m
A Smaller
Social History of
Ancient Ireland
P. W. JOYCE
-^\f r
/■■ Vj
7^
FIG. i.— Frontispiece to the Epistle ot St. Jerome in the Book of Durrow. Specimen oi
ancient Irish penwork. (From Miss Stokes's- Early Christian Art in Ireland.)
A SMALLER
SOCIAL HISTORY
OF
ANCIENT IRELAND
TREATING OF
The Government, Military System, and Law ;
Religion, Learning, and Art ; Trades, Industries, and Commerce;
Manners, Customs, and Domestic Life,
of the Ancient Irish People
BY
P. W. JOYCE, M.A., LL.D., T.C.D. ; M.E.I. A, *>
One of the Commissioners for the Publication of the Ancient Laws of Ireland
Honorary President of the Royal Society of Antiquaries, Ireland
WITH 213 ILLUSTRATIONS
EC^ ^EGK LIBRARY
CHESTISUT HILL, MASS.
LONGMANS, GREEN,. & CO.
LONDON, NEW YORK, AND BOMBAY
DUBLIN I M. H. GILT. & SON, LTD.
1906
BOSTON COLLEGE LIBRARY
CHESTNUT HILL. MASS.
Printed at thi
By PoNSONBY & GlBBS
-UJ52;J8
Sculpture over a doorway, Cormac's Chapel, Cashel : Centaur shooting at
a lion. (From Petrie's Round Towers.)
PREFACE
This book is an abridgment of my larger work,
"A Social History of Ancient Ireland." It consists
mainly of simple exposition : most of the illus-
trative quotations and proofs, which are given in
detail in the larger work, and nearly all the numerous
references to authorities, are here omitted.* Yet the
book is something more than a mere dry array of
fact -statements ; and I hope it will be found, not
only instructive, but readable and interesting.
The social condition of most of those ancient
nations that have made any figure in the world has
been investigated and set forth in books ; and perhaps
it will be acknowledged that Ireland deserves to be
* From this it will be understood that for all the important
statements in this book, authorities, references, and illustrative
quotations will be found in the larger Social History.
VI PREFACE.
similarly commemorated. For, besides the general
importance of all such studies in elucidating the
history of the human race, the ancient Irish were a
highly intellectual and interesting people ; and the
world owes them something, as I hope to be able to
show. In this book an attempt is made to picture
society, in all its phases, as it existed in Ireland
before the Anglo-Norman Invasion ; and to accom-
plish this work, every authentic source of information
within my reach has been turned to account.
The society depicted here — as the reader will soon
discover for himself — was of slow and methodical
growth and development ; duly subordinated from
the highest grades of people to the lowest ; with
clearly-defined ranks, professions, trades, and indus-
tries ; and in general with those various pursuits and
institutions found in every well-ordered community :
a society compacted and held together by an all-
embracing system of laws and customs, long estab-
lished and universally recognised.
From the account here given, and from the evi-
dences adduced in this and in the larger work, we
may see that the ancient Irish were as well advanced
in civilisation, as orderly, and as regular, as the
people of those other European countries of the
same period that — like Ireland — had a proper settled
government ; and it will be shown farther on that
PKEFACE. VI 1
they were famed throughout all Europe for Religion
and Learning.
The subject of the social condition of Ancient
Ireland has been to some extent treated of by other
writers, notably by Ware, 0 'Curry, and Sullivan ;
and I have taken full advantage of their learned
labours. But they deal with portions only : my
Essay aims at opening up the entire field.
This book does not deal with pre-historic times,
except by occasional reference, or to illustrate the
historic period. My survey generally goes back only
so far as there is light from living record — history or
tradition.
I have taken occasion all along to compare Irish
Social Life with that of other ancient nations, espe-
cially pointing out correspondences that are the
natural consequence of common Aryan origin : but
want of space precluded much indulgence in this
very desirable direction.
The writer who endeavours to set forth his subject
— whatever it may be — in "words of truth and
soberness," is sure to encounter the disapproval or
hostility of those who hold extreme opinions on
either side. In regard to my subject, we have, on
the one hand, those English and Anglo-Irish people
—and they are not few — who think, merely from
ignorance, that Ireland was a barbarous and half-
Viil PREFACE.
savage country before the English came among the
people and civilised them ; and, on the other hand,
there are those of my countrymen who have an
exaggerated idea of the greatness and splendour of
the ancient Irish nation. I have not been in the
least influenced by writers belonging to either class.
Following trustworthy authorities, I have tried to
present here a true picture of ancient Irish life,
neither over-praising nor depreciating. I have not
magnified what was worthy of commendation, nor
suppressed, nor unwarrantably toned down, features
that told unfavourably for the people : for though I
love the honour of Ireland well, I love truth better.
The Irish race, after a long-protracted struggle,
went down before a stronger people ; and in addition
to this, from causes which it would be out of place to
discuss here, they suffered almost a total eclipse at
home during a period nearly coincident with the
eighteenth century. Chiefly for these reasons the
old Irish people have never, in modern times, received
the full measure of credit due to them for their early
and striking advance in the arts of civilised life, for
their very comprehensive system of laws, and for
their noble and successful efforts, both at home and
abroad, in the cause of religion and learning. Of
late indeed we can perceive, among Continental and
British writers, something like a spontaneous move-
PREFACE. IX
ment showing a tendency to do them justice ; but
the essays in this direction, though just, and often
even generous, as far as they go, are fragmentary,
scattered, and fitful. Those who are interested in
this aspect of the subject will perhaps be pleased to
have the whole case presented to them in one Essay.
I am glad to be able to say that the large Social
History has been successful even beyond what I
had expected. But as it is too expensive for the
general run of readers, I am induced to bring out
this abridgment, which can be sold at a price that
places it within reach of all. For, irrespective of
mere personal considerations, it seems to me very
desirable that a good knowledge of the social con-
dition of Ancient Ireland, such as is presented here,
should be widely diffused among the people : more
especially now, when there is an awakening of
interest in the Irish language, and in Irish lore of
every kind, unparalleled in our history. This smaller
book, however, is not designed to supersede the
larger work, but rather to lead up to it.
The numerous Illustrations relate directly to the
several current parts of the text : and I hope they
will be found an instructive and pleasing feature of
the book.
I am indebted to Dr. Kuno Meyer — the well-known
distinguished Celtic scholar — for many valuable
b
X PREFACE.
corrections and suggestions. These were given in
connexion with the larger Social History, but many
of them are reflected in this book.
Mr. J. T. Gibbs, of the University Press, read the
proof-sheets all through, and suggested many useful
verbal corrections and alterations.
The old Irish writers commonly prefixed to their
books or treatises a brief statement of " Place, Time,
Person, and Cause." My larger Social History,
following the old custom, opens with a statement of
this kind, which may be appropriately repeated here,
only with the " Time" changed : —
The Place, Time, Author, and Cause of
Writing, of this book, are : — Its place is
Lyre-na-Grena, Leinster-road, Bathmines,
Dublin; its time is the year of our Lord
one thousand nine hundred and six ; the
author is Patrick Weston Joyce, Doctor of
Laius ; and the cause of writing the same
book is to give glory to God, honour to
Ireland, and knowledge to those luho desire
to learn all about the Old Irish People.
PREFACE. XI
I have now to discharge the pleasant duty of recording
my thanks for help towards illustrating both this book
and the larger Social History.
The Councils of the Royal Irish Academy, and of the
Royal Society of Antiquaries, Ireland, gave me the use
of the blocks of great numbers of the illustrations in
their respective publications, and where the blocks were
not available, permitted me to copy any of their illustra-
tions I wanted. That the book is so well illustrated is
mainly owing to the liberality of these two distinguished
Societies. There is no need to enter into detail here, as
under every illustration in the book is mentioned the
source from which it is derived : but I wish to direct
attention to the number of valuable and accurate figures
I have borrowed from Wilde's "Catalogue of Irish Anti-
quities," belonging to the Royal Irish Academy.
Messrs. Hodges, Figgis, & Co., of Dublin, placed at my
disposal the blocks of as many of Petrie's and Wakeman's
beautiful drawings as I chose to ask for.
Colonel Wood-Martin lent me the blocks of many of
the illustrations in his "Pagan Ireland" and "Traces of
the Elder Faiths of Ireland."
From the Board of Education, South Kensington, I
have received permission to use electrotypes from the
original blocks of nearly a dozen of the admirable illustra-
tions in Miss Stokes's "Early Christian Art in Ireland."
The Controller of His Majesty's Stationery Office,
London, allowed me to reproduce some of the illustrations
in Sir John T. Gilbert's ' ' Facsimiles of Irish National
Manuscripts."
I am indebted to the late Mr. Bernard Quaritch, of
London, for leave to reproduce the beautiful illuminated
page of the Book of MacDurnan, from Westwood's
"Facsimiles of Anglo-Saxon and Irish Manuscripts."
b2
Xll PREFACE.
Messrs. George Bell & Sons lent me the blocks of some
of the illustrations in Miss Stokes's " Three Months in the
Forests of France," and " Six Months in the Apennines."
I had the permission of the Rev. Dr. Abbott, s.f.t.c.d.,
to copy some of the figures in his "Reproductions of
Portions of the Book of Kells."
Lord Walter Fitz Gerald gave me leave to copy some
of the illustrations in the " Journal of the County Kildare
Archaeological Society."
The Editor of the "Revue Celtique" has given me
permission to reproduce two of the figures in that
periodical .
Besides the above, a number of illustrations have been
taken from books having no copyright, and others have
been purchased from the proprietors of copyright works :
all of which are acknowledged in the proper places. And
there are a good many original sketches appearing here
now for the first time.
Dr. Petrie and Miss Margaret Stokes have been the
chief illustrators of the Scenery and Antiquities of
Ireland ; and even a casual glance will show to what an
extent I have been enabled to enrich this book with their
beautiful and accurate drawings.
P. W. J.
Dublin,
October, 1906.
Sculpture on a Column, Church of the Monastery. Glendalough.
(From Petrie's Round Towers.)
CONTENTS.
PART I.
GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW,
CHAPTER I.
A Preliminary Bird's-eye View,
PAGE
3
CHAPTER II.
Government by Kings, .
Section
1. TERRITORIAL SUBDIVISION,
2. CLASSES OF KINGS,
3. ELECTION AND INAUGURATION,
4. REVENUE AND AUTHORITY,
5. PRIVILEGES,
6. LIMITATIONS AND RESTRICTIONS,
7. HOUSEHOLD, RETINUE, AND COURT OFFICERS,
8. THE OVER-KINGS, ....
CHAPTER III.
"Warfare, . .
Section
1. FOREIGN CONQUESTS AND COLONISATIONS,
2. MILITARY RANKS, ORDERS, AND SERVICES,
3. ARMS, OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE,
4. STRATEGY, TACTICS, AND MODES OF FIGHTING,
13
13
17
18
22
23
25
25
31
32
32
3S
49
62
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
The Brehon Laws,
Section
1. THE BREHONS, ......
2. THE SENCHUS MOR AND OTHER BOOKS OF LAW,
3. SUITABILITY OF THE BREHON LAWS,
4. STRUCTURE OF SOCIETY, .
5. THE LAWS RELATING TO LAND,
6. THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE, .
PAGE
70
70
73
76
77
81
86
PART II.
RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART.
CHAPTER Y.
Paganism,
Section
1. DRUIDS : THEIR FUNCTIONS AND POWERS,
2. POINTS OF AGREEMENT AND DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
IRISH AND GAULISH DRUIDS,
3. SORCERERS AND SORCERY,
4. MYTHOLOGY : GODS, GOBLINS, AND
5. AVORSHIP OF IDOLS,
6'. WORSHIP OF THE ELEMENTS, .
7. THE PAGAN HEAVEN AND A FUTURE
8. TURNING DEISIOL OR SUNWISE
9. THE ORDEAL,
10. THE EVIL EYE,
11. GEASA, OR PROHIBITIONS,
PHANTOMS,
95
101
102
104
118
121
124
127
128
130
131
CHAPTER VI.
Christianity, 133
Section
1. CHRISTIANITY BEFORE ST. PATRICK'S ARRIVAL, . 133
2. THE THREE ORDERS OF IRISH SAINTS, . . .135
3. THE FIRST ORDER : PATRICIAN SECULAR CLERGY, . 136
CONTENTS. XV
Chapter VI. — continued.
Section page
4. THE SECOND ORDER : MONASTIC CLERGY, . .138
5. THE THIRD ORDER : ANCHORITES OR HERMITS, AND
HERMIT COMMUNITIES, 152
6. BUILDINGS, AND OTHER MATERIAL REQUISITES, . 155
CHAPTER VII.
Learning and Education, 168
Section
1. learning in pagan times : ogham, . . .168
2. monastic schools, . . . . . .174
3. lay schools, 178
4. Some general features of both classes of
schools, 180
5. THE MEN OF LEARNING, ...... 184
6. HONOURS AND REWARDS FOR LEARNING, . .190
7. THE KNOWLEDGE OF SCIENCE, . . . .191
CHAPTER VIII.
Irish Language and Literature, . 197
Section
1. DIVISIONS AND DIALECTS OF CELTIC, . . . 197
2. WRITING, AND WRITING MATERIALS, . . . 202
3. ANCIENT LIBRARIES, ...... 205
4. EXISTING BOOKS, 208
5. IRISH POETRY AND PROSODY, . . . .214
CHAPTER IX.
Ecclesiastical and Religious "Writings, . . . 217
CHAPTER X.
Annals, Histories, and Genealogies, . . . . 224
Section
1. HOW THE ANNALS WERE COMPILED, . . . 224
2. TESTS OF ACCURACY, ...... 225
3. PRINCIPAL BOOKS OF ANNALS, .... 228
4. histories: genealogies: dinnsenchus, . . 231
XVI CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XL
PAGE
Historical and Romantic Tales, .... 233
Section
1. CLASSES, LISTS, AND NUMBERS, .... 233
2. CHRONOLOGICAL CYCLES OF THE TALES, . . . 234
3. GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE TALES, . . . 236
4. STORY-TELLING AND RECITATION, .... 238
CHAPTER XII.
Art, . . . ■■ . . .... • • .2-39
Section
1. PENWORK AND ILLUMINATION, . . . 239
2. GOLD, SILVER, AND ENAMEL, AS WORKING MATERIALS, 244
3. ARTISTIC METAL WORK, 246
4. STONE CARTING, 249
CHAPTER XIII.
Music, 251
Section
1. HISTORY, 251
2. MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, 254
3. CHARACTERISTICS, CLASSES, STYLES, . . . 259
4. MODERN COLLECTIONS OF ANCIENT IRISH MUSIC, . 262
CHAPTER XIV.
Medicine and Medical Doctors, 264
Section
1. MEDICAL DOCTORS, 264
2. MEDICAL MANUSCRIPTS, 268
3. DISEASES, ... .... 270
4. TREATMENT, . 273
CONTENTS.
XVI 1
PART III.
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE.
CHAPTER XV.
PAGE
The Family, 283
Section
1. MARRIAGE, 283
2. POSITION OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN, . . . 284
3. FOSTERAGE, . . . . . . • 286
4. FAMILY NAMES, 288
CHAPTER XVI.
The House, . . . ... . . .289
Section
1. CONSTRUCTION, SHAPE, AND SIZE, .... 289
2. INTERIOR ARRANGEMENTS AND SLEEPING ACCOMMO-
DATION, ........ 300
3. OUTER PREMISES AND DEFENCE, .... 306
4. DOMESTIC VESSELS, 314
5. ROYAL RESIDENCES, 320
CHAPTER XVII.
Food, Fuel, and Light : Public Hostels, . . . 343
Section
1. MEALS IN GENERAL, . i . . . . . 343
2. DRINK, . " . . / .
. 348
3.. COOKING, . . * / *
. 351
4. FLESH MEAT AND ITS ACCOMPANIMENTS,
. 354
5. MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS,
. 359
6. CORN AND ITS PREPARATION, .
361
7. HONEY,
363
8. VEGETABLES AND FRUIT,
365
9. FUEL AND LIGHT, ....
369
10. FREE PUBLIC HOSTELS, .
372
XV111 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XVIII.
PACE
Dress and Personal Adornment, . . . .376
Section
1. THE PERSON AND THB TOILET, .... 376
2. DRESS, ........ 382
3. PERSONAL ORNAMENTS, 399
4. ROUGH CLASSIFIED LIST OF THE GOLD OBJECTS IN
THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, DUBLIN, . . • 420
CHAPTER XIX.
Agriculture and Pasturage, 421
Section
1. FENCES, 421
2. LAND, CROPS, AND TILLAGE, . . . . 425
3. SOME FARM ANIMALS, . . . . • .428
4. HERDING, GRAZING, MILKING, .... 430
CHAPTER XX.
"Workers in "Wood, Metal, and Stone, . . .433
Section
1. CHIEF MATERIALS, 433
2. BUILDERS, ........ 435
3. BRASIERS AND FOUNDERS, . . . . .437
4. THE BLACKSMITH AND HIS FORGE, .... 440
5. CARPENTERS, MASONS, AND OTHER CRAFTSMEN, . 444
6. PROTECTION OF CRAFTS AND SOCIAL POSITION OF
CRAFTSMEN, 452
CHAPTER XXF.
Corn Mills and Querns, . t. . . . 456
Section
1. MILLS, 456
2. QUERNS AND GRAIN RUBBERS, .... 459
CONTENTS.
XIX
CHAPTER XXII.
Trades and Industries connected with Clothing,
Section
] . "WOOL AND WOOLLEN FABRICS,
2. FLAX AND ITS PREPARATION, .
3. DYEING, ....
4. SEWING AND EMBROIDERY.
5. TANNING AND TANNED LEATHER,
PAGE
462
462
465
466
469
471
CHAPTER XXIII.
Measures, "Weights, and Mediums of Exchange, . 472
Section
1. LENGTH AND AREA, 472
2. CAPACITY, ........ 474
3. WEIGHT, 474
4. STANDARDS OF VALUE AND MEDIUMS OF EXCHANGE, 475
5. TIME, 478
CHAPTER XXIY.
Locomotion and Commerce, .
Section
1. ROADS, BRIDGES, AND CAUSEWAYS,
2. CHARIOTS AND CARS,
3. HORSE-RIDING, .
4. COMMUNICATION BY WATER, .
5. FOREIGN COMMERCE,
480
480
483
487
491
494
CHAPTER XXV.
Public Assemblies, Sports, and Pastimes, . . . 496
Section
1. THE GREAT CONVENTIONS AND FAIRS, . . . 496
2. THE FAIR OF CARMAN, ...... 500
3. GENERAL REGULATIONS FOR MEETINGS, . . . 502
4. SOME ANIMALS CONNECTED WITH HUNTING AND
SPORT, ........ 504
5. RACES, 509
XX
CONTENTS.
Chapter XXV. — continued.
Section
6. CHASE AND CAPTURE OF WILD ANIMALS, .
7. CAMA.N OR HURLING, AND OTHER ATHLETIC GAMES,
8. CHESS, ........
9. JESTERS, JUGGLERS, AND GLEEMEX,
PAGE
510
513
514
516
CHAPTER XXVI.
Various Social Customs and Observances,
Section
1. SALUTATION, ....
2. PLEDGING, LENDING, AND BORROWING,
3. PROVISION FOR OLD AGE AND DESTITUTION
4. LOVE OF NATURE AND OF NATURAL BEAUTY
5. SOMETHING FURTHER ABOUT ANIMALS
6. ANIMALS AS PETS,
7. THE CARDINAL POINTS, .
8. THE WIND, .....
9. THE SEA,
10. BISHOP ULTAN AND THE ORPHANS,
518
. 518
. 519
ON,
. 520
JTY,
. 521
. 524
. 525
. 526
. 527
. 528
. 530
CHAPTER XXVII.
Death and Burial,
Section
1. WILLS,
2. FUNERAL OBSEQUIES,
3. MODES OF BURIAL,
4. CEMETERIES,
5. SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS
531
531
532
534
537
540
Index, 551
Portion of a Bell-shrine found in the River Bann. (From Miss Stokes's
Christian Inscriptions.)
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
24
40
PAGE
Frontispiece to the Epistle
of St. Jerome in the Book
of Durrow, . Frontispiece
Cormac's Chapel on the
Rock of Cashel, . . xxiv
Ruins on Inishcaltra in
Lough Derg, ... 8
Specimen of ancient Irish
Bookbinding, ... 10
Aill-na-Meeran, ... 14
Irish Kings and Archers,
thirteenth century, .
Dun - Dalgan, Cuculainn's
residence, near Dundalk,
Rath-Keltair at Down-
patrick,
Flint Arrow-head
Do. do.,
Do. do.,
Bronze head of Battle-mace
Bronze Spear-head
Do. do.,
Do. do.,
Do. do.,
Do. curved Sword,
Ancient bronze Sword
Bronze Scabbard,
Metallic Celt or Battle
Do. do.
Celt on handle, .
Do. do.,
Dermot Mac Murrogh
Two Galloglasses,
Front of bronze Shield
FIG.
27.
28.
29.
37.
. 41
. 50
39-
• 50
40.
. 50
mace, 51
4i
• 52
42.
■ 52
43
• 53
• 53
44.
• 53
45
I, • 55
46
55
3-axe, 56
47
56
48
• 57
49
• 57
50
h ■ 58
5i
. • 58
52
1, . 6x
53
Back of bronze Shield,
Soldier receiving charge, .
Two Galloglasses on tomb,
Capital L from Book of
Kells, ....
Facsimile of Senchus Mor,
A Fairy Hill,
A Fairy Moat,
Amulet, -:
Killeen Cormac in Wicklow,
Doorway of St. Erc's Her-
mitage, ....
Ancient Baptismal Font of
Clonard, ....
St. Columb's House at
Kells, ....
Irish Shrine,
St. Dicuil's Holy Well at
Lure, France, .
Gougane Barra in Cork,
St. Mac Dara's Church,
St. Doulogh's Church near
Dublin, ....
Ancient Church Doorway, .
Kilmallock Abbey,
Round Tower, Clonmac-
noise, ....
Round Tower, Devenish, .
Round Tower, DrumclirT, .
St. Patrick's Bell,
Shrine of St. Patrick's Bell,
Mac Ailello's Bell, .
Ogham Alphabet,
Ogham Stone,
PAGE
61
67
68
70
74
105
107
123
1.34
140
147
151
154
155
156
157
159
161
162
163
166
167
168
170
170
XX11
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
FIG. PAGE
54. Two Irish-Roman Alpha-
bets, 173
55. John Scctus Erigena, . . 176
56. Tombstone of the " Seven
Romans," .... 177
57. Alphabet cut on Stone, . 183
58. Astronomical Diagram, . 192
59. Scribe writing, . . . 204
60. Facsimile of part of Book of
Dun Cow, .... 210
61. Dysert Aengus in Limerick, 221
62. Noah's Ark, . . .223
63. Tubbrid Church in Tippe-
rary, 231
63A. Illuminated page of Book
of Mac Durnan, facing 241
64. Outlines of illuminated page, 241
65. Ornamented page, Gospel
of St; John, . . .243
66. The Ardagh Chalice, . . 247
67. The Tara Brooch, . . 248
68. The Cross of Cong, . . 250
69. ILarp-player, . . .255
70. Irish Piper, .... 256
71. Harp- and Pipe-players, . 237
72. Group of Irish Trumpets, . 258
73. Ornamental bronze Trumpet-
plate, . . . .259
74. Sweating-house, . . . 279
75. Trim Castle, . . . 291
76. Coloured Glass Ornament, 294
77. Coloured Porcelain Pin-
head, .... 294
78. Coloured Glass Circular
Disk, 294
79. Carrickfergus Castle, . 296
80. King John's Castle,
Limerick, .... 297
81. Plan of Irish Homestead, . 299
82. Plan of Irish Dwelling-
house, .... 301
83. Castle of Athlone, . . 304
84. The Moat of Kilfinnane, . 307
85. Staigue Fort in Kerry, . 308
86. Dun-Aengus in Aranmore, 309
87. Carlow Castle, . . . 311
88. Dundrum Castle, Co. Down, 312
89. Stone Drinking-cup, . . 314
FIG.
90.
91.
92.
93-
94-
95-
96.
97-
98.
99.
100.
101.
102.
103.
104.
105.
106.
107.
108.
109.
no.
III.
112.
113.
II4.
"5-
116.
117.
118.
119,
120.
121,
124,
125.
120,
127
128
129
Bronze Drinking-vessel,
The Kavanagh Horn,
Ancient wooden vessel,
Figure of a Man drinking,
Wooden Mether,
Do. do.,
Wooden Bucket,
PAGE
315
315
316
317
318
318
318
130
Earthenware glazed Pitcher, 319
Plan of Tara, . . . 322
The Forrad Mound, Tara, 324
Dinnree Fort, . . . 333
North Moat, Naas, . . 335
Carbury Castle, Kildare, . 336
The Rock of Cashel, . . 338
Caher Castle, . . . 339
Small ancient Table, . 346
Bronze Strainer, . . 349
Bronze Caldron, . . 352
Do. do., . . 353
Ancient Butter-print, . 359
Firkin of Bog-butter, . 360
Bronze Figures of Ecclesi-
astics, .... 378
Ancient Ornamented Comb, 379
Do., do., 379
Do. do., 379
Bronze Razor, . . . 380
Small gold Box, . . 382
Angel : from Book of Kells, 386
Evangelist : from Book of
Kells, . . . .387
Group showing Costume, . 389
Figures showing the Kilt, 390
Figures showing Trews or
Trousers, . . . 391
Enamelled bronze Button, 392
Decorated bronze Pin, . 392
Do. do., . 392
Do. do., . 392
Do. do., . 392
Do. do., . 392
Do. do., . 392
Gentleman of high class in
costume of 1600, . . 393
, Lady of high class in cos-
tume of 1600, . . . 393
, Lady of middle class in
costume of 1600, . . 393
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
XX111
FIG.
132.
134-
135-
136.
137.
138.
139.
140.
141.
142.
143-
144.
145.
146.
147.
148.
149.
150.
151.
152.
153-
154-
155.
156.
157.
158.
159.
160.
161.
162.
163.
164.
165.
166.
167.
168.
169.
170.
171.
172.
173.
Gentleman of middle class
in costume of 1600,
Peasant Alan in costume of
1600, ....
Peasant Woman in costume
of 1600, ....
Portion of a Veil,
Ornamented Shoe,
Feet on Panel, showing
Sandals, ....
Pair of connected Shoes, .
Gold Bracelet, .
Bronze Bracelet,
Gold Finger-ring,
Bead or Stud of Jet,
Do. do.,
Do. do.,
Gold Bead,
Do.,
Gold Torque,
Do.
Gold Crescent, first type, .
Do., second type,
Do., do.,
Gold Boss of Crescent,
Gold Crescent, third type,
Bunne-do-at or Fibula,
Do. do.,
Do. do.,
Small Bunne-do-at, .
Do. do.,
Great Bunne-do-at, .
Circular gold Plate, .
Bronze Brooch, .
Crowned Irish King, .
Fillet or Ray of a Crown,
Gold Earring,
Gold Ball for the Hair,
A Holed- Stone,
Bronze Reaping-hook,
Goldsmith's Anvil,
Inlaid enamelled Hook,
Spear-head,
Mould for bronze Celt,
Mould for bronze Spear,
Plan of Smith's Bellows,
393
393
393
395
396
397
398
400
400
401
402
402
402
402
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
411
4^1
4"
412
412
413
413
414
416
417
418
419
423
426
437
438
438
439
439
442
FIG. PAGK
174. Mould for Forge Furnace, 444
175. Bronze Adze,
176. Bronze Chisel,
177. Do.,
178. Do.,
179. Do.,
180. Bronze Gouge,
181. Round Tower of Devenish,
182. Window of Castledermot
Abbey, ....
183. Doorway of Rahan Church,
184. Upper Stone of Quern,
185. Quern, ....
186. Grain-Rubber, .
187. Specimen of Wool-weaving
188. Do. do.,
189. Two bronze Needles,
190. Ancient Steelyard
191. Bracteate Coin, .
192. Do.,
193. Small Bunne, used a
Money,
194. Ancient Irish Chariots,
195. Horseman,
196. Horseman using Horse-rod
197. Skeleton of Irish Elk
198. Pronged Fishing-spear
199. Bone Chessman,
200. The Twelve Winds, ,
201. Cinerary Urn of Stone,
202. Cinerary Urn of baked Clay
203. New Grange Mound, . 538
204. Burial Mound near Clonard, 541
205. Sepulchral Chamber with
Sarcophagus, .
206. Sepulchral Stone Enclosure
207. Great Cromlech at Kilter-
nan, .....
208. Phcenix Park Cromlech, .
209. King Dathi's Grave and
Pillar-stone,
210. Lugnaed's Headstone,
2ii. Strongbow's Monument in
Christchurch, .
212. Tomb of Felim O'Conor,
King of Counaught, . 550
446
448
448
448
448
449
45i
452
454
459
460
461
464
464
469
475
476
476
477
486
488
489
507
512
515
528
535
535
542
54.3
544
545
547
548
549
Fig.
Cormac's Chapel on the Rock of Cashel. Example of
Irish Romanesque Architecture. (From Miss Stokes's
Early Christian Architecture in Ireland.)
PAIIT I.
GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW.
Composed from the Book of Kells
CHAPTER I.
A PRELIMINARY BIRD 'S -EYE VIEW.
reland, from the sixth to the twelfth century
of the Christian era, presented an inter-
esting spectacle, which, viewed through
the medium of history, may be sketched
in broad outline as follows.
In those early times the physical aspect
of Ireland was very different from what it
is at present. All over the country there
were vast forests, and great and dangerous
marshes, quagmires, and bogs, covered with reeds,
moss, and grass. But though bogs existed from the
beginning, many districts, where we now find them
lying broad and deep, were once forest land : and
the bog grew up after the surface had, in some
manner, become denuded of trees. Buried down
at a depth of many feet in some of our present bogs
-great tree trunks are often found, the relics of the
primeval forest.
But outside forest and bog, there were open plains,
valleys, and hillsides, under cultivation and pas-
turage, and all well populated. The woods and
waste places were alive with birds and wild animals
of all kinds, and the people were very fond of hunting
b2
4 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
and fishing; for there was plenty of game, both
large and small, and the rivers and lakes teemed
with fish. Sometimes they hunted hares and foxes
for mere sport. But they had much grander game :
wild boars with long and dangerous tusks, deer in
great herds, and wolves that lurked in caves and
thick woods. There were the same broad lakes, like
inland seas, that still remain ; but they were gene-
rally larger then than they are now ; and they were
surrounded with miles of reedy morasses : lakes and
marshes tenanted everywhere by vast flocks of cranes,
wild geese, wild swans, and other fowl. Kites and
golden eagles skimmed over the plains, peering down
for prey ; and the goshawks, or falcons, used in the
old game of hawking, were found in great abundance.
A person traversing those parts of the country
that were inhabited found no difficulty in getting
from place to place ; for there were roads and bridle-
paths everywhere, rough indeed, and not to be com-
pared with the roads of our day, but good enough for
the travel and traffic of the time. If the wayfarer
did not choose to walk, there were plenty of ox-
waggons ; and among the higher classes rough
springless chariots, drawn by one or two horses.
Horse-riding, though sometimes adopted, was not in
those times a very general mode of travelling. What
with rough conveyances, and with roads and paths
often full of ruts, pools, and mire, a journey,
whether by walking, driving, or horse-riding, was a
slow, laborious, and disagreeable business, and not
always free from danger. Rivers were crossed by
means of wooden bridges, or by wading at broad
shallow fords, or by little ferry-boats, or, as a last
CHAP. I.] A PRELIMINARY BIRD's-EYE VIEW. 5
resource, by swimming : for in those days of open-
air life everyone could swim. Fords were, however,
generally very easy to find, as the roads and paths
usually impinged on them, and in many places lights
were kept burning beside them at night.
In the inhabited districts the traveller experienced
little difficulty on the score of lodging ; for there
were open houses of hospitality for the reception of
strangers, where bed and food were always ready.
If one of these happened not to be within reach, he
had only to make his way to the nearest monastery,
where he was sure of a warm welcome : and, whether
in monastery or hostel, he was entertained free of
charge. Failing both, there was small chance of his
having to sleep out : for hospitality was everywhere
enjoined and practised as a virtue, and there was
always a welcome from the family of the first private
house he turned into.
The people were divided into tribes and clans,
each group, whether small or large, governed by a
king or chief ; and at the head of all was the high
king of Ireland. But these kings could not do as
they pleased : for they had to govern the country or
the district in accordance with old customs, and had
to seek the advice of the chief men on all important
occasions — much the same as the limited monarchs
of our own day. There were courts of justice pre-
sided over by magistrates and judges, with lawyers
to explain the law and plead for their clients.
The houses were nearly all of wood, and oftener
round than quadrangular, the dwelling of every com-
fortable family being surrounded by a high rampart
of earth with a thorn hedge or strong palisade on
6 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
top, to keep out wild animals and robbers. Beside
almost every homestead was a kitchen-garden for
table vegetables, and one or more enclosed spaces for
various purposes, such as out-door games, shutting
in cattle at night, or as haggards for corn-stacks.
In some places the dwellings were clustered in
groups or hamlets, not huddled close as the houses
in most of our present villages, but with open spaces
between. The large towns — which, however, were
very few — lay open all round, without any attempt
at fortification.
The people were bright and intelligent and much
given to intellectual entertainments and amusements.
They loved music and singing, and took delight in
listening to poetry, history, and romantic stories,
recited by professional poets and shanachies ; or, in
the absence of these, by good non-professional story-
tellers, who were everywhere to be found among the
peasantry. They were close observers of external
nature, too, and had an intense admiration for
natural beauty — a peculiarity everywhere reflected in
their literature, as well as in their place-names.
In most parts of the country open-air meetings or
fairs were held periodically, where the people con-
gregated in thousands, and, forgetting all the cares
of the world for the time, gave themselves over to
unrestrained enjoyment — athletic games and exer-
cises, racing, music, recitations by skilled poets and
storytellers, jugglers' and showmen's representa-
tions, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in
marriage. So determined were they to ward off all
unpleasantness on these occasions, that no one, at
the risk of his life, durst pick a quarrel or strike a
CHAP. I.] A PRELIMINARY BIRD's-EYE HEW. 7
blow : for this was one of the rules laid down to
govern all public assemblies. An Irish fair in
those times was a lively and picturesque sight. The
people were dressed in their best, and in great
variety ; for all, both men and women, loved bright
colours ; and from head to foot every individual wore
articles of varied hues. Here you see a tall gentle-
man walking along with a scarlet cloak flowing
loosely over a short jacket of purple, with perhaps
blue trousers and yellow headgear, while the next
showed a colour arrangement wholly different ; and
the women vied with the men in variety of hues.
Nay, single garments were often particoloured ; and
it was quite common to see the long outside mantle,
whether worn by men or women, striped and spotted
with purple, yellow, green, or other dyes.
But outside such social gatherings, and in ordinary
life, both chiefs and people were quarrelsome and
easily provoked to fight. Indeed they loved fighting
for its own sake ; and a stranger to the native
character would be astonished to see the very people
who only a few days before vied with each other in
good-natured enjoyment, now fighting to the death
on some flimsy cause of variance, which in all likeli-
hood he would fail to understand if he made inquiry.
These everlasting jars and conflicts — though not
more common in Ireland than in England and
Scotland — brought untold miseries on the people,
and were the greatest obstacle to progress. Some-
times great battles were fought, on which hung the
fate of the nation, like those we have seen contested in
Ireland within the last two or three hundred years.
But the martial instincts of the people were not
8 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
always confined within the shores of Ireland ; for
Irish leaders often carried war into the neighbouring
countries both of Great Britain and the Continent.
In all parts of the country were monasteries, most
of them with schools attached, where an excellent
education was to be had by all who desired it, for
small payment, or for nothing at all if the student
***<*~
Fig. 3.
Ruins on Inishcaltra or Holy Island in Lough Derg on the Shannon. Island
Monastery founded by St. Camin (died 653). Here was one of the Munster
Colleges where many distinguished men were educated. From Kilk. Archjeol.
Journ.
was poor ; and besides these there were numerous
lay schools where young persons might be educated
in general learning and for the professions. The
teaching and lecturing were carried on with life
and spirit, and very much in the open air when
the weather permitted. In the monasteries and
CHAP. I.] A PRELIMINARY BIRD'S-EYE VIEW. 9
schools, as well as in some private houses, there
were libraries of manuscript books containing all
the learning then known : but when you walked into
the library room, you saw no books on shelves ; but
numbers of neat satchels hanging on hooks round
the walls, each containing one or more precious
volumes and labelled on the outside.
Learning of every kind was held in the highest
estimation ; and learned men were well rewarded,
not only in the universal respect paid to them, but
also in the solid worldly advantages of wealth and
influence. Professional men — physicians, lawyers,
builders, &c. — went on their visits, each attended by
a group of scholars who lived in his house and
accompanied him to learn their profession by actual
practice.
Some gave themselves up to the study and practice
of art in its various forms, and became highly
accomplished : and specimens of their artistic work
remain to this day, which are admitted to be the
most perfect and beautiful of the kind existing in
any part of the world.
In numerous districts there were minerals, which,
though not nearly so abundant as in the neighbour-
ing island of Great Britain, were yet in sufficient
quantity to give rise to many industries. The mines
were worked too, as we know from ancient docu-
ments ; and the remains of old mines of copper, coal,
and other minerals, with many antique mining tools,
have been discovered in recent times in some parts
of Ireland. Gold was found in many places,
especially in the district which is now called the
county Wicklow ; and the rich people wore a variety
10 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
of gold ornaments, which they took~great pride in.
Many rivers produced the pearl mussel, so that Ireland
was well known for its pearls, which were unusually
Specimens of the Ancient Irish Art of Bookbinding. From Miss Stokes's
Early Christian Art in Ireland.
large and of a very fine quality : and in some of the
same rivers pearls are found to this day.
Though there were no big factories, there were
plenty of industries and trades in the homes of the
people, like what we now call cottage industries.
CHAP. I.] A PRELIMINARY BIRD'S-EYE VIEW. 11
Coined money was hardly known, so that all trans-
actions of buying and selling were carried on by a
sort of barter, values being estimated by certain well-
known standards, such as cows, sacks of corn of a
fixed size, ounces of gold and silver, and such like.
To facilitate these interchanges, the people had
balances and weights not very different from those
now used.
The men of the several professions, such as medical
doctors, lawyers, judges, builders, poets, historians ;
and the tradesmen of various crafts — carpenters,
smiths, workers in gold, silver, and brass, ship- and
boat-builders, masons, shoemakers, dyers, tailors,
brewers, and so forth — all worked and earned their
bread under the old Irish laws, which were every-
where acknowledged. Then there was a good deal
of commerce with Britain and with Continental
countries, especially France ; and the home commo-
dities, such as hides, salt, wool, etc., were exchanged
for wine, silk, satin, and other goods not produced in
Ireland.
As the population of the country increased, the
cultivated land increased in proportion. But until a
late time there were few inhabited districts that were
not within view, or within easy reach, of unreclaimed
lands — forest, or bog, or moorland : so that the people
had much ado to protect their crops and flocks from
the inroads of wild animals.
All round near the coast ran, then as now, the
principal mountain ranges, with a great plain in the
middle. The air was soft and moist, perhaps even
more moist than at present, on account of the great
extent of forest. The cleared land was exceedingly
12 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
fertile, and was well watered with springs, stream-
lets, and rivers, not only among the mountainous
districts, but all over the central plain. Pasture
lands were luxuriant and evergreen, inviting flocks
and herds without limit. There was more pasture
than tillage, and the grass land was, for the most
part, not fenced in, but was grazed in common.
Some of the pleasing features of the country have
been well pictured by Denis Florence McCarthy in
his poem of " The Bell Founder " : —
" O Erin ! thou broad-spreading valley, thou well-watered land of fresh
streams,
When I gaze on thy hills greenly sloping, where the light of such
loveliness beams,
When I rest on the rim of thy fountains, or stray where thy streams
disembogue,
Then I think that the fairies have brought me to dwell in the bright
Tirnanogue."
Ireland, so far as it was brought under cultivation
and pasture in those early days, was — as the
Venerable Bede calls it — " a land flowing with milk
and honey" ; a pleasant, healthful, and fruitful land,
well fitted to maintain a prosperous and contented
people.
Though the period from the sixth to the twelfth
century has been specified at the opening of this
chapter, the state of things depicted here continued,
with no very decided changes, for several hundred
years afterwards ; and many of the customs and
institutions, so far from being limited backwards
by the sixth century, existed from prehistoric times.
All these features, and many others not noticed
here, will now be examined in the following chapters
of this book.
Composed rom the Book of Kells.
CHAPTEK II.
GOVERNMENT BY KINGS.
Section i. Territorial Subdivision.
efoke entering on the subject of Govern-
ment, it will be useful to sketch the
main features of the ancient terri-
torial divisions of the country. It was
parcelled out into five provinces from
the earliest times of which we have
any record : — Leinster ; East Munster ;
West Munster; Connaught; and Ulster:
a partition which, according to the legend, was made
by the five Firbolg brothers, the sons of Dela.*
Laigin or Leinster originally extended — in coast
line — from Inver Colpa (the mouth of the Boyne
at Drogheda) to the river Suir : East Human or
Munster from the Suir to the Lee at Cork : West
Munster from the Lee round to the Shannon :
Olnegmacht or Connaught from Limerick and the
Shannon to the little river Drowes, which issues
from Lough Melvin and flows between the counties
See Joyce's Short Hist, of Ireland, p. 1
25,
14 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
of Leitrim and Donegal : and Ulaid or Ulster from
this round northwards to the Boyne.
This division became modified in course of time.
The two Munsters, East and West, gradually ceased
to be distinguished, and Munster was regarded as a
single province. A new province, that of Mide
[Mee] or Meath, was formed in the second century
;v)V/«< ■*••,■;■■
IG. 5-
Aill-na-Meeran, the ' Stone of the Divisions ; now often called the "Cat Stone.
(From a photograph. Man put in for comparison.)
of the Christian era by Tuathal [Thoohal] the
Acceptable, king of Ireland. Down to his time the
provinces met at a point on the hill of Ushnagh (in
the present county Westmeath) marked by a great
stone called Aill-na-Mirenn [Aill-na-Meeran] , the
1 Stone of the Divisions,' which stands there a con-
spicuous object still. Round this point Tuathal
CHAP. II.] GOVERNMENT BY KINGS. 15
formed the new province by cutting off a portion of
each of the others. It was designed to be the mensal
land or personal estate of the Ard-ri or supreme
king of Ireland, that he might be the better able to
maintain his court with due state and dignity.
Previous to his time the king of Ireland had only a
small tract — a single tuath (see next page) — for his
own use. This new province was about half the
size of Ulster, extending from the Shannon east-
wards to the sea, and from the confines of the present
county Kildare and King's County on the south to
the confines of Armagh and Monaghan on the north.
The present counties of Meath and Westmeath retain
the name, but comprise only about half the original
province.
At the time of Tuathal's accession — a.d. 130 —
there were four places belonging severally to the
four provinces, situated not far from each other,
which for centuries previously had been celebrated
as residences and as centres for great periodical
meetings for various purposes : — Tara in Leinster ;
Tailltenn in Ulster (now Teltown on the Blackwater,
midway between Navan and Kells) ; Tlachtga in
Munster (now the Hill of Ward near Athboy in
Meath) ; and Ushnagh in Connaught, nine miles west
of Mullingar in the present county Westmeath. All
these were included in the new province ; and
Tuathal built a palace in each, of which some of the
mounds and fortifications remain to this day. After
his time the five provinces generally recognised and
best known in Irish history were Leinster, Munster,
Connaught, Ulster, Meath.
Besides the formation of a new province, there
16 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
were several minor changes. The district forming
the present county Louth was transferred from
Ulster to Leinster; the present county Cavan, which
originally belonged to Connaught, was given to
Ulster ; and the territory now known as the county
Clare was wrested from Connaught and annexed to
Munster. Down to the time of Tuathal, Connaught
included a large tract east of the Shannon> a part of
the present counties of Longford and Westmeath
(nearly as far as Mullingar) ; but in accordance with
his arrangements, the Shannon, in this part of its
course, became the eastern boundary of that province.
The most ancient division of Munster, as has been
said, was into East and West : but a later and
better known partition was into Thomond or North
Munster, which broadly speaking included Tipperary,
Clare, and the northern part of Limerick ; and
Desmond or South Munster, comprising Kerry, Cork,
Waterford, and the southern part of Limerick. In
later times, however, the name Thomond has been
chiefly confined to the county Clare, the patrimony
of the O'Briens, who are usually known by the
tribe-name of Dalcassians. Recently Meath has
disappeared as a province : and the original pro-
vinces now remain — Leinster, Munster, Connaught,
and Ulster.
The provinces were subdivided into territories of
various sizes. The political unit, i.e. the smallest
division with a single government, under a chief or
king, was the Tiiath [Thooa] . A tuath contained
about 177 English square miles, and might be repre-
sented in area by an oblong district, sixteen miles
by eleven. There were 184 tuaths in all Ireland.
CHAP. II.] GOVERNMENT BY KINGS. 17
Sometimes three, four, or more tuaths were united to
form one large territory under a king : this was
called a Mor-tuath, or great tuath.
2. Classes of Kings.
The government of the whole country, as well as
that of each division and subdivision, was in the
hands of a king or chief, who had to carry on his
government in accordance with the immemorial
customs of the country or sub-kingdom : and his
authority was further limited by the counsels of his
chief men. The usual name for a king in the
ancient as well as in the modern language is ri [ree],
genitive righ [ree]. A queen was, and is, called
rioghan [reean]. Over all Ireland there was one
king, who, to distinguish him from others, was desig-
nated the Ard-ri, or over-king (drd, 'high'). The
over-kings lived at Tara till the sixth century a.d. ;
after that, elsewhere : hence the Ard-ri was often
called " King of Tara," even after its abandonment.
The last over-king was Eoderick 0 'Conor. After
his death, in 1198, there were no more supreme
monarchs : but the provinces and the smaller
kingdoms continued to be ruled by their native
kings in succession down to a much later period.
There was a king over each of the five provinces —
an arrangement commonly known as the Pentarchy.
The provinces, again, included many sub-kingdoms,
some consisting of a single tuath and some of more,
as has been said. The tuath was the smallest terri-
tory whose ruler could claim the title of rif or king ;
but all the 184 tuaths had not kings.
18 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
From this it will be seen that, speaking in a
general sense, there were four classes of kings : — the
king of the tuath ; the king of the mor -tuath ; the
king of a province ; and the king of all Ireland :
forming a regular gradation, kingdom within
kingdom.
The kings of the provinces were subject to the
over-king, and owed him tribute and war-service. A
similar law extended to all the sub-kingdoms : in
other words, the king of each territory, from the
tuath upwards to the province, was — at all events
nominally — subject to the king of the larger territory
in which it was included. Some of the sub-kingdoms
were very large, such as Tyrone, Tirconnell, Thomond,
Desmond, Ossory, Hy Many, &c, each of which
comprised several tuaths and several tribes.
3. Election and Inauguration.
Election. — The king or ruling chief was always
elected from members of one fine or family, bearing
the same surname (when surnames came into use) ;
but the succession was not hereditary in the present
sense of the word: it was elective, with the above
limitation of being confined to one family. Any
freeborn member of the family was eligible, provided
that both his father and paternal grandfather had
been fiaiths or nobles, and that he was free from all
personal deformities or blemishes likely to impair his
efficiency or to lessen the respect of the people for
him. The successor might be son, brother, nephew,
cousin, &c, of the chief. That member was chosen
who was considered the best able to lead in war and
CHAP. II.] GOVERNMENT BY KINGS. 19
govern in peace; which of course implied that he
should be of full age.
The proceedings at the election, which were carried
on with much ceremony and deliberation, are de-
scribed in the law. Every freeman of the rank of
aire [arra] or chief had a vote. If there were several
candidates, a court was held for the election in the
house of the chief brewy or hosteller of the district —
or in the palace, if it was for a high-class king — to
which all the chiefs about to take part in the election
proceeded, each with his full retinue : and there they
remained in council for three days and three nights,
at the end of which time the successful candidate
was declared elected.
With the object of avoiding the evils of a disputed
succession, the person to succeed a king or ruling
chief was often elected by the chiefs convened in
formal meeting during the lifetime of the king him-
self : when elected he was called the tanist, a word
meaning second, i.e. second in authority. Proper
provision was made for the support of the tanist by
a separate establishment and an allowance of land, a
custom which continued, in case of the tanists of
provincial and minor kings, till the time of Elizabeth,
and even later. He was subordinate to the king or
chief, but was above all the other dignitaries of the
state. The other persons who were eligible to succeed
in case of the tanist's failure were termed Boij-
damna, that is to say 'king-material.'
The Inauguration or making of a king, after he
had been elected, was a very impressive ceremony.
Of the mode of inaugurating the pagan kings we
know hardly anything, further than this, that the
o2
20 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
kings of Ireland had to stand on an inauguration
stone at Tara called Lia Fail, which uttered a roar,
as was believed, when a king of the old Milesian race
stood on it.
But we possess full information of the ceremonies
used in Christian times. The mode of inaugurating
was much the same in its general features all over
the country, and was strongly marked by a religious
character. But there were differences in detail ; for
some tribes had traditional customs not practised by
others. There was a definite formula, every portion
of which should be scrupulously carried out in order
to render the ceremony legal. Some of the obser-
vances that have come within the ken of history, as
described below, descended from pagan times. Each
tribe, or aggregation of tribes, had a special place of
inauguration, which was held in much respect —
invested indeed with a half sacred character. It was
on the top of a hill, or on an ancestral earn (the
sepulchre of the founder of the race), or on a large
lis or fort, and sometimes under a venerable tree,
called in Irish a bile [billa]. Each tribe used an
inauguration stone— a custom common also among
the Celts of Scotland. Some of the inauguration
stones had the impression of two feet, popularly be-
lieved to be the exact size of the feet of the first chief
of the tribe who took possession of the territory.
Sometimes there was a stone chair, on which the
king sat during part of the ceremony. The inaugu-
ration chair of the O'Neills, of Clannaboy (a branch of
the great O'Neills) is still preserved in the Belfast
Museum. On the day of the inauguration the sub-
chiefs of the territory, and all the great officers oi
CHAP. II.] GOVERNMENT BY KINGS. 21
state, with the brehons, poets, and historians, were
present, as also the bishops, abbots, and other leading
ecclesiastics.
The hereditary historian of the tribe read for the
elected chief the laws that were to regulate his
conduct ; after which the chief swore to observe
them, to maintain the ancient customs of the tribe,
and to rule his people with strict justice. Then,
while he stood on the stone, an officer — whose special
duty it was — handed him a straight white wand, a
symbol of authority, and also an emblem of what his
conduct and judicial decisions should be — straight and
without stain. Having put aside his sword and other
weapons, and holding the rod in his hand, he turned
thrice round from left to right, and thrice from right
to left, in honour of the Holy Trinity, and to view
his territory in every direction. Then one of the
sub-chiefs appointed for this purpose pronounced
in a loud voice his surname— the surname only,
without the Christian name — which was afterwards
pronounced aloud by each of the clergy, one after
another, according to dignity, and then by the sub-
chiefs. He was then the lawful chief ; and ever
after, when spoken to, he was addressed "O'Neill" —
" Mac Carthy More"-— " O'Conor," &c. ; and when
spoken of in English, he was designated " The
O'Neill," &c, a custom existing to this day, as we
see in " The O'Conor Don," " The Mac Dermot,"
and in Scotland " The Mac Galium More."
The main parts of the inauguration ceremony
were performed by one or more sub-chiefs : this
office was highly honourable, and was hereditary.
The inaugurates had a tract of land and a residenc
22 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
free, which remained in the family. The O'Neills
of Tyrone were inaugurated by O'Hagan and O'Cahan
at Tullaghoge, near Dungannon, where the fine old
inauguration moat still remains ; the O'Donnells of
Tirconnell by O'Freel, at the Eock of Doon, near
Kihnacrenan. Near Quin in Clare is the fort of
Magh Adhair [Mah-ire], on which the Dalcassian
kings were made ; and Carnfree, the mound on which
the 0' Conors, kings of Connaught, were inaugurated,
is to be seen in the townland of Cams, near Tulsk,
in Eoscommon.
4. Pie venue and Authority.
The revenue of the king or ruling chief, of what-
ever grade, which enabled him to support his court
and household, was derived from three main sources.
First : he was allowed, for life or for as long as he
continued chief, .a tract of land, which varied in size
according to the rank of the king. Second : payments
from the individual chiefs, farmers, and artisans,
over whom he ruled : all according to their means.
These were almost always paid in kind : — cattle and
provisions, plough-oxen, hogs, sheep, with mantles
and other articles of dress, dyestuffs ; and sometimes
gold and silver reckoned in ounces. Third : payment
for lending stock, as described in chap, iv., sect. 5.
But in addition to all this he might have land as
his own personal property : and there were other
minor sources of income.
A king usually secured the allegiance of his sub-
kings and chiefs by taking hostages ; so that every
king had hostages residing in his palace, who all
CHAP. II.] GOVERNMENT BY KINGS. 23
lived in one particular house, specially allotted
to them.
5. Privileges.
Kings enjoyed many privileges, and were bound
by many restrictions. A king's evidence in a
brehon's court against all of a rank below him was
accepted without question, as they had not the right
to be heard in evidence against him : but this
privilege did not hold against a bishop, a doctor of
learning, or a pilgrim, all of whom were regarded as
of equal rank with himself — so far as giving evidence
was concerned.
When a king of any grade ascended the throne, he
usually made a visitation or royal progress through
his kingdom, to receive allegiance and hostages from
his sub-kings. Eo. moved very leisurely in a round-
about, sunwise, i.e. from left to right ; and during
the whole journey, he was to be entertained, with
all his retinue, free of charge, by those sub-chiefs
through whose territories he passed: so that these
visitations were called " Free Circuits."
In old times it was the belief of the Irish that
when a good and just king ruled — one who faithfully
observed in his government the royal customs and
wise precepts followed by his ancestors — the whole
country was prosperous : the seasons were mild,
crops were plentiful, cattle were fruitful, the waters
abounded with fish, and the fruit trees had to be
propped owing to the weight of their produce. The
same belief prevailed among the Greeks and Romans.
The ancient Irish had a very high ideal of what a
king should be : and we meet with many statements
24 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I,
throughout our literature of the noble qualities ex-
pected from him. He should be " free from false-
hood, from the betrayal of his nobles, from unworthy
conduct towards his people." " For what is a prince
selected over a country?" asks Carbery of King
Cormac, who replies : " For the goodness of his form
and race, and sense, and learning, and dignity, and
utterance : he is selected for his goodness and for his
wisdom, and strength, and forces, and valour in
Fig. 6.
Irish Kings and Archers, thirteenth century. From frescoes in Abbey Knockmoy,
Gahvay. (Drawn by Petrie.)
fighting." A just sovereign " exercises not falsehood,
nor [unnecessary] force, nor oppressive might. He
has full knowledge of his people, and is perfectly
righteous to them all, both weak and strong."
A king should, according to law, have at least
three chief residences ; and he lived in them by turns
as suited his fancy or convenience. On state occa-
sions he sat upon a throne, called in Irish righshuidhe
[ree-hee], " royal seat," slightly elevated so as to
enable him to view the whole assembly. He wore
CHAP. II.] GOVERNMENT BY KINGS. 25
a crown or diadem, called a minn, which will be
described farther on.
6. Limitations and Restrictions.
Irish kings were not despotic : they were all, from
the supreme monarch down to the king of the tuath,
in every sense, limited monarchs ; they were subject
to law like their own free subjects. We have seen
that at their inauguration they had to swear that
they would govern their people with strict justice,
and in accordance with the ancient customs of the
kingdom ; and their duties, restrictions, and privi-
leges were strictly laid down in the Brehon code.
This idea pervades all our literature, from the
earliest time.
There were certain things which a king was for-
bidden to do, as being either dangerous or unbecom-
ing. He was neither to do any work nor concern
himself about servile work of any kind. It was not
permitted to a king, or even to a noble, to keep pigs :
that is to have them managed for him round or near
his house by any of his immediate dependents. But
swineherds living in their own homes at a distance
from the palace, fed great herds of swine in the woods
for the king.
7. Household, Retinue, and Court Officers.
Under the king, of whatever grade, and forming
part of his household, persons held various offices of
trust, with special duties, all tending to support the
dignity or ensure the safety of the king ; just as we
26 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
find in royal households of modern times. The
persons appointed to each office always belonged to
some particular family, in whom the office was here-
ditary ; and all were paid liberal allowances for their
services.
The higher the king's status the more numerous
were the offices and the more important the positions
of the persons holding them. Some of these were
in constant attendance, and lived in or about the
palace : others attended only on special great occa-
sions : and these commonly lived at a distance in
their own territories — for they were themselves gene-
rally sub-chiefs or sub-kings with their own retinues
and office-holders. Most of the higher class of
officers, such as professional men (who will be treated
of farther on), who were supposed to give their whole
— or nearly their whole — time to the service, had
land and houses for their support, not far from the
royal residence. On state occasions, all these officers
attended in person on the monarch, and were assigned
their proper places in the great hall. In accordance
with an ordinance made by King Cormac Mac Art,
the Ard-ri, or king of Ireland, was at all times — and
not merely on state occasions— to be accompanied by
a retinue of at least ten persons : — a,flaith or noble ;
a brehon or judge; a druid; a sai or doctor ; a poet ;
a historian ; a musician ; and three servants — all to
exercise their several professional functions when
required. This arrangement continued in force till
the death of Brian Boru in 1014, except that in
Christian times a bishop took the place of a druid.
A few picked men commonly accompanied the
king as personal and immediate guards, and stood
BOSTON COLLEGE LltiKAKl
©HE3TNUT HILL. MASS.
CHAP. II.] GOVERNMENT BY KINGS. 27
beside him when he sat down, with swords or battle-
axes in their hands : for Irish kings were not less
liable to assassination than others, from ancient
times to the present day. This custom continued
down to the sixteenth century : for the Four Masters
have left us a description of Shane O'Neill's body-
guard, which has the antique flavour of the period of
the Red Branch Knights. In front of Shane's tent
burned a great fire, " and a huge torch, thicker than
a man's body, was constantly flaring at a short dis-
tance from the fire ; and sixty grim and redoubtable
galloglasses, with sharp keen axes, terrible and ready
for action, and sixty stern and terrific Scots [hired
soldiers from Scotland], with massive broad and
heavy - striking swords in their hands [ready] to
strike and parry, were watching and guarding
O'Neill."
The king commonly kept in his retinue a tren-fher
[trainar] , a 'strong man,' or cath milid, ' battle -
soldier,' his champion or chief fighting man, to
answer challenges to single combat. Concobar Mac
Nessa's champion Triscatal, who lived in the palace
of Emain, is described in an ancient tale in the
Book of Leinster in terms that remind us of the
English writer's description of a much later tren-
fher, John de Courcy, whose very look — on the day
of single combat before King John of England and
King Philip of France— so frightened the French
champion that he " turned round and ranne awaie
off the fielde."* Triscatal was a mighty broad-fronted,
*This whole story about John de Courcy find the French
champion is told in my Reading Book in Irish History.
28 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
shaggy-haired man, with thighs as thick as an ordi-
nary man's body, wearing a thick leathern apron
from his armpits down : his limbs were bare, and his
aspect was so fierce that he killed men by his very
look.
We know that St. Patrick kept a household in
imitation of the ancient Irish custom : and one of
his attendants was his tren-fher or • strong man,'
St. Mac Carthen, afterwards first bishop of Clogher,
whose peaceful function was to carry the aged saint
on his back across fords and other difficult places,
on their missionary journeys.
At the entrance to the royal palace or council
chamber stood the doorkeepers to scan and interro-
gate all visitors. There was a Rechtaire [3-syll.] or
house-steward, whose office was a very dignified one.
The house-steward of King Conari's household is
described as wearing a fleecy mantle, and holding in
his hand his " wand of office," which was no small
ornamental rod — no " silver wand of state " — but a
huge black beam " like a mill -shaft." He arranged
the guests in their proper places at table, assigned
them their sleeping-apartments, and determined each
morning the supplies of food for the day. If a
dispute arose on any matter connected with the
arrangements for receiving, placing, or entertaining
the guests, he decided it ; and his decision was final.
When he stood up to speak, all were silent, so that a
needle might be heard if it dropped on the floor.
From this description it will be seen that the rech-
taire corresponded closely with the Anglo-Norman
seneschal, major-domo, or house- steward, of later
times.
CHAP. II.] GOVERNMENT BY KINGS. 29
A particular officer had charge of the king's (or
queen's) seds, l jewels,' or personal treasures, which
were generally kept in a corrbolg, or large round
ornamental satchel, or in a number of such recep-
tacles. One man, and sometimes two, had charge
of the chessboard and chessmen. The board was
enclosed in some sort of case, and the men were often
kept in a bag of wire netting. There was a master
of the horse who had charge of the king's stables and
horses, under whom were one or more grooms. We
find mentioned, among the 6ther officials, chief
swineherds and chief cooks, whose positions were
considered of importance. Eunners, i.e., messengers
or couriers, were always kept in the king's or chief's
employment ; and not unfrequently we find women
employed in this office.
A king kept in his court an ollave of each profes-
sion : — poet, historian, storyteller (or most commonly
one ollave combining these three professions), physi-
cian, brehon, builder, &c. Each of these gave his
services to the king, for which an ample stipend was
allowed, including a separate dwelling-house and free
land. The whole institution flourished in the time of
Camden (sixteenth century), who correctly describes
it: — "These lords [i.e., the Irish kings and chiefs]
have their historians about them, who write their acts
and deeds : — they have their physicians, their rymers
whom they call bards, and their harpers : all of
whom have their several livelihoods, and have lands
set out for them." Fools, jugglers, and jesters were
always kept in the king's court for the amusement
of the household and guests. They and their func-
tions will be described in chapter xxv. Each chief,
30 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
of whatever grade, kept a household after the
manner of a king, but on a smaller scale, with the
several offices in charge of the members of certain
families.
From the description given at pp. 17, 18, it will be
seen that there was a regular gradation of authority.
The king of the ttiath owed allegiance to the king of
the mor-tuath : the king of the mor-tuath to the pro-
vincial king ; the provincial king to the ard-ri of all
Ireland. But this was very imperfectly carried out.
The authority of the' supreme monarch over the pro-
vincial kings was in most cases only nominal, like
that of the early Bretwaldas over the minor kings
of the Heptarchy. He was seldom able to enforce
obedience, so that they were often almost or altoge-
ther independent of him. There never was a king of
Ireland who really ruled the whole country : the king
that came nearest to it was Brian Boru. In like
manner the under-kings often defied the authority
of their superiors. The people grouped into families,
clans, tribes, and kinds, with only slight bonds of
union, and with their leaders ever ready to quarrel,
were like shifting sand. If the country had been
left to work out its own destinies, this loose system
would probably in the end have developed into one
strong central monarchy, as in England and France.
As matters stood it was the weak point in the govern-
ment. It left the country a prey to internal strife,
which the supreme king was not strong enough
to quell ; and the absence of union rendered it
impossible to meet foreign invasion by effectual
resistance.
CHAP. II.] GOVERNMENT BY KINGS. 31
8. The Over-Kings.
According to the ancient bardic legends, five suc-
cessive colonies arrived in Ireland many centuries
before the Christian era : — the Parthalonians, the
Nemedians, the Firbolgs, the Dedannans, and the
Milesians.* The bards say that government by
monarchy began with the Firbolgs ; whose first king
— and the first king of Irelaud — was Slainge [two-
syll. : Slang-a], From the time of his accession
down to the birth of Christ, they allow 107 monarchs,
of whom 9 were Firbolgs ; 9 Dedannans ; and 89
Milesians. The last king of the period before the
Christian era was Nuacla Necht or Nuada the White :
and his successor, Conari the First, or Conari the
Great, was the first king belonging to the Christian
era. The Milesian kings continued to reign till the
time of Roderick O'Conor, the last over-king of
Ireland, who died in 1198 ; and who, according to the
bardic accounts, was the 193rd monarch of Ireland.
A list of the over-kings, with dates, is given in the
larger Social History, vol. i., p. 68.
As to the records of the very early kings, they
cannot, of course, be received as history : but neither
should they be rejected altogether : it is as much of
a fault to be too sceptical as to be too credulous.
* For these see my Short History of Ireland, p. 123.
Sculpture on Chance Arch, Monastery Church, Glendalough ; drawn, 1845.
(From Petrie's Round Towers.)
CHAPTER III.
WARFARE.
Section 1. Foreign Conquests and Colonisations.
ike their ancestors the Continental Celts,
the Irish, from the earliest ages, had a
genius for war and a love of fighting.
In the writings of classical Latin and
Greek authors are found many passages
that indicate the warlike character the
ancient Irish had earned for themselves among
foreign nations. They were not contented with
fighting at home, but made themselves formidable
in other lands. Their chief foreign conquests were
in Wales and Scotland : but they not unfrequently
found their way to the Continent. In those times
the Scots, as the Irish were then called, seem to
have been almost as much dreaded as the Norsemen
were in later ages. Irish literature of every kind
abounds in records of foreign invasions and alli-
ances ; and the native accounts are corroborated
by Roman writers, so far as they touch on these
matters.
All who have read the histories of England and
Rome know how prominently the " Picts and Scots "
CHAP. III.] WARFARE. 33
figure during the first four centuries of our era, and
how much trouble they gave to both Romans and
Britons. The Picts were the people of Scotland:
the Scots were the Irish Gaels. As a protection
against these two tribes, the Romans, at different
intervals in the second and third centuries, built
those great walls or ramparts from sea to sea between
Britain and Alban, so well known in the history of
those times, the ruins of which still remain. For
three or four centuries the Irish continued their in-
cursions to Britain and Scotland, sometimes fighting
as invaders against the Picts, sometimes combining
with them against Romans and Britons ; and as a
consequence there were several settlements of colonies
from Ireland in 'Wales and Scotland.
Criffan the Great, who reigned in Ireland from
a.d. 366 to 379, is celebrated for his conquests in
Britain, in all the Irish histories and traditions
dealing with that time, so that he is often called
Criffan the Great, " king of Ireland and of Alban to
the Ictian Sea " : " Alban " here meaning, not Scot-
land, but Great Britain ; and the " Ictian Sea," the
English Channel. His reign is almost exactly co-
incident with the command of the Roman general
Theodosius (father of the emperor Theodosius the
Great), who, according to the Roman historians,
checked the career of the Gaels and their allies. The
Irish accounts of Criffan's invasion of Britain are in
the main corroborated by the Roman poet Claudian,
in those passages of his poem that celebrate the
victories of Theodosius. The continual attacks of
the three tribes — Scots, Picts, and Saxons — became
at last so intolerable that the Roman government was
84 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
forced to take defensive measures. In 367, the year
after Criffan's accession, Theodosius. was appointed
to the military command of Britain ; and, after two
active campaigns, he succeeded in delivering that
country for the time from the invaders.
Criffan was succeeded as king of Ireland by Niall of
the Nine Hostages (a.d. 379 to 405), who was still
more distinguished for foreign conquests than his
predecessor. Moore (Hist. I. 150) thus speaks of
his incursions into Wales : — " An invasion of Britain,
on a far more extensive and formidable scale than
had yet been attempted from Ireland, took place
towards the close of the fourth century under Niall of
the Nine Hostages, one of the most gallant of all the
princes of the Milesian race." He collected a great
fleet, and landing in Wales,, carried off immense
plunder : but was at last forced to retreat by the
valiant Roman general Stilicho. On this occasion
Claudian, when praising Stilicho, says of him —
speaking in the person of Britannia :— " By him was
I protected when the Scot [i.e. Niall] moved all
Ireland against me, and the ocean foamed with their
hostile oars." The Irish narratives of Niall's life
and actions add that he invaded Gaul, which was
his last exploit ; for he was assassinated (a.d. 405) on
the shore of the river Loire by one of his own chiefs,
the king of Leinster, who shot him dead with an
arrow.
The extensive scale of these terrible raids is
strikingly indicated by no less an authority than
St. Patrick, who, in his " Confession," speaking of
the expedition — probably led by Niall— in which he
himself was captured, says: — "I was then about
CHAP. III.] WAEFAEE. 35
sixteen years of age, being ignorant of the true God;
I was brought captive into Ireland, with so many
thousand men, according as we had deserved."
Welsh scholars, from Lhuyd of two centuries ago,
to Principal Rhys of the present day, as well as
historical inquirers of other nationalities, have in-
vestigated this question of the Irish conquests in
Wales, quite independently of Irish records : and
they have come to the conclusion that, at some earJy
time, extensive districts of Wales were occupied by
the Irish ; and, as a consequence, numerous places
in Wales have to this day names commemorating
the invaders : as, for instance, the Welsh name of
Holyhead, Cerrig y Gwyddell, the ' Rocks of the
Goidels or Gaels ' ; and the Welsh language still
contains many Irish words, or words evidently
derived from Irish. After careful examination of
all the evidence, Dr. Jones, a Welshman, bishop of
St. David's, in a book written by him on this subject,
comes to the conclusion that the Gaels from Ireland
once occupied the whole of Anglesey, Carnarvon,
Merioneth, and Cardiganshire, and parts of Denbigh-
shire, Montgomery, and Radnor. But besides all
this, ancient Welsh literature — history, annals, tales,
legends — like that of Ireland, abounds with references
to invasions of Wales and other parts of Britain
by Irishmen. In those early days too, as might be
expected, a continual intimate relationship by inter-
marriage was kept up between the Irish kings and
chiefs on the one side, and the ruling families of
western and northern Britain on the other, which is
fully set forth in our ancient books of genealogy.
About the period of the series of expeditions to
d2
36 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
Wales, the Irish also mastered the Isle of Man : and
Irish literature abounds with references to the con-
stant intercourse kept up by the parent people with
those of their little insular colony. Though the
Norsemen wrested the sovereignty of the island from
them in the ninth century, they did not succeed in
displacing either the Gaelic people or their language.
The best possible proof of the Irish colonisation and
complete and continued occupation of the island is
the fact that the Manx language is merely a dialect
of Irish, spelled phonetically, but otherwise very
little altered. There are also still to be seen, all over
the island, Irish buildings and monuments, mixed up,
however, with many of Norse origin : and the great
majority of both the place-names and the native
family-names are Gaelic.
Niall's successor Dathi [Dauhy], king of Ireland,
a.d. 405 to 428, followed in the footsteps of his
predecessors, and, according to Irish authorities,
invaded Gaul : but was killed by a flash of lightning
at the foot of the Alps, after his followers had
destroyed the hermitage of a recluse named For-
menius or Parmenius. Although this legend looks
wild and improbable, it is in some respects corrobo-
rated by continental authorities, and by present
existing names of places at the head of Lake Zurich :
so that there is very likely some foundation for the
story.
We will now go back in point of time to sketch the
Irish colonisation of north Britain, the accounts of
which, however, are a good deal mixed with those of
the Welsh settlements. From very early ages, the
Irish of Ulster were in the habit of crossing the
CHAP. III.] WAKFARE. 37
narrow sea to Alban or Scotland, where colonies were
settled from time to time : and constant intercourse
was kept up between the two countries down to a
late period. The authentic history of these ex-
peditions and settlements begins in the early part of
the third century, during the reign of Conari II.
(a.d. 212-220). This king had three sons, Carbery
Muse, Carbery Baskin, and Carbery Riada. At this
time a great famine devastated Munster ; and
Carbery Riada led a number of his Munster people
to Ulster and to the south-west of Scotland, in both
which places they settled down permanently.
These Irish narratives are confirmed by the
Venerable Bede in his Ecclesiastical History, where
he says : — " In course of time, besides the Britons
and Picts, Britain received a third nation, the Scots,
who, migrating from Ireland under their leader
Reuda, obtained for themselves, either by friendly
agreement or by force of arms, those settlements
among the Picts which they still hold. From the
name of their commander they are to this day called
Dalreudini : for in their tongue dal signifies a part."
The " Dalreudini" of Bede is the Dalriada of Irish
history.
These primitive settlers increased and multiplied ;
and, supported from time to time by contingents
from the mother country, they held their ground
against the Picts. But the settlement was weak and
struggling till the reign of Lewy, king of Ireland
(a.d. 483 to 512), about three centuries after the time
of Carbery Riada. In the year 503 three brothers
named Fergus, Angus, and Lome, sons of a chief
named Ere, a direct descendant of Carbery Riada, led
88 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
a colony to Scotland from their own district in the
Irish Dalriada (in the present Co. Antrim : see map) :
descendants of the Minister settlers of three centuries
before. They appear to have met with little or no
opposition, and being joined by the previous settlers,
they took possession of a large territory, of which
Fergus, commonly called Fergus mac Ere, and also
known as Fergus More (the Great), was the first
king. The descendants of these colonists ultimately
mastered the whole country ; and from them its name
was changed from Alban to Scotia or Scotland.
Fergus was the ancestor of the subsequent kings of
Scotland ; and from him, in one of their lines of
genealogy, descend, through the Stuarts, our present
royal family.
2. Military Banks, Orders, and Services.
At different periods of our early history the kings
had in their service bodies of militia, who underwent
a yearly course of training, and who were at call like
a standing army whenever the monarch required
them. The most celebrated of these were the " Red
Branch Knights" of about the time of the Incar-
nation, and the " Fianna or Fena of Erin," who
flourished in the third century. Though the ac-
counts that have come down to us of these two
military organisations are much mixed up with
romance and fable, there is sufficient evidence to
show that they really existed and exercised great
influence in their day.
The Red Branch Knights belonged wholly to
Ulster, and in the ancient Tales they are represented
CHAP. III.] WARFARE. 39
as in the service of Concobar mac Nessa, king of that
province, but not king of Ireland. The king's palace
was Emain or Emania near Armagh, of which a
description will be found in chap, xvi., sect. 5, below.
Every year during the summer months, various
companies of the Knights came to Emain under
their several commanders, to be drilled and trained
in military science and feats of arms. The greatest
Red Branch commander was Cuculainn, a demigod,
the mightiest of the heroes of Irish romance. The
other chief heroes were Conall Kernach ; Laegaire
(or Laery) the Victorious ; Keltar of the Battles ;
Fergus mac Roy : the poet Bricriu ' ' of the venom
tongue," who lived at Loughbrickland, where his
fort still remains near the little lake ; and the three
sons of Usna — Naisi, Ainnle, and Ardan. All these
figure in the ancient literature.
The Red Branch Knights had a passion for
building great duns or forts, many of which remain
to this day, and excite the wonder and awe of visitors.
Besides Emain itself, there is the majestic fort of
Dun-Dalgan, Cuculainn's residence, a mile west
of the present town of Dundalk. This dun consists
of a high mound surrounded by an earthen rampart
and trench, all of an immense size, even in their
ruined state ; but it has lost its old name, and is now
called the Moat of Castletown, while the original
name Dundalgan, slightly altered, has been trans-
ferred to Dundalk. Another of these Red Branch
Knights' residences stands beside Downpatrick :
viz. the great fort anciently called (among other
names) Dun-Keltair, or Rath-Keltair, where lived the
hero, Keltar of the Battles. It consists of a huge
40 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
embankment of earth, nearly circular, with the usual
deep trench outside it, enclosing a great mound, all
covering a space of about ten acres. Still another,
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which figures much in the old romances under its
ancient name Dun-da-benn — but now called Mount-
sandall — crowns the high bank over the Cutts
42 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
waterfall on the Bann, near Coleraine. Four miles
west of this is a similar fortress, now known by the
name of the " Giant's Sconce," which is the ancient
Dun Cethern [Doon-Kehern], so called from "Cethern
of the Brilliant Deeds," a famous Red Branch
Knight. John de Courcy's original Castle of Dun-
drum, in Down, was built on the site of one of the
most formidable of all — Dun-Rury — the immense
earthworks of which still remain round the present
castle, at the base of the rock, though the original
dun- mound on the top was levelled by the castle-
builders.
Contemporary with the Red Branch Knights were
the Degads of Munster — but of Ulster extraction —
whose chief was Curoi mac Daire, king of South
Munster ; and the Gamanraide [Gowanree] of
Connaught, commanded by Keth mac Magach and
by the renowned hero Ferdiad. Curoi lived in a
cdlier or stone fort on a rocky shelf 2050 feet over
the sea, on the mountain of Caherconree, near
Tralee, whose ruins remain there to this day. As a
still further evidence that the old legends and
romances about Curoi rest on a foundation of fact,
not only is the old stone fortress there to witness,
but, like Emain and Creeveroe (the "Red Branch":
for which see chap, xvi., sect. 5), in the north, it
retains its ancient name, which has been extended to
the whole mountain, and which commemorates the
mighty hero himself: for "Caherconree" correctly
represents the sound of the Irish name Cathair-
Chonroi, the caher or stone fortress of Curoi.
The Red Branch Knights, as well as those of
Munster and Connaught, used chariots both in battle
CHAP. III.] WARFAEE. 43
and in private life. Chariot-racing too was one of
their favourite amusements : and the great heroes
are constantly described in the tales as fighting from
their chariots.
The Fianna or Fena of Erin, so far as we can
trace their history with any certainty, lasted for
about a century. They attained their greatest power
in the reign of Cormac mac Art (254 to 277) under
their most renowned commander Finn, the son of
Oumal, or Finn mac Coole as he is commonly called,
King Cormac's son-in-law, who is recorded in the
Annals to have been killed beside the Boyne, when
an old man.
The chief heroes under Finn, who figure in the
tales, were : — Oisin or Ossian, his son, the renowned
hero-poet to whom the bards attribute — but we know
erroneously — many poems still extant ; Oscar the
brave and gentle, the son of Ossian ; Dermot O'Dyna,
unconquerably brave, of untarnished honour, generous
and self-denying, the finest character in all Irish
literature, perhaps the finest in any literature ; Goll
mac Morna, the mighty leader of the Connanght
Fena ; Cailte [Keelta] mac Ronan the swift-footed :
Conan Mail or Conan the Bald, large-bodied, foul-
tongued, boastful, cowardly, and gluttonous.
Before admission to the ranks, candidates were
subjected to certain severe tests, both physical and
mental, one of which deserves special mention
here : — No candidate was allowed to join unless he
had mastered a certain specified and large amount
of poetry and tales : that is to say, he had to prove
that he was a well-educated man, according to the
standard of the times : a provision that anticipated
44 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
by seventeen centuries the condition of admission to
the higher posts of our present military service,
designed to ensure that every commissioned officer of
the army shall be a man of good general education.
This — whether history or legend — shows what was
regarded as the general standard of education in
Ireland in those times. The physical tests consisted
of running, leaping, defence against an attack of
armed spearmen, and such like.
Of all the heroes of ancient Ireland Finn is most
vividly remembered in popular tradition. He had
his chief residence on the summit of the Hill of Allen,
a remarkable flat-topped hill, lying about four miles
to the right of the railway as you pass Newbridge
and approach Kildare, rendered more conspicuous of
late years by a tall pillar erected on the top, on the
very site of Finn's house. So far as we can judge
from the old accounts, the house was built altogether
of wood — like the "Bed Branch" — without any
earthen rampart round it : and accordingly no trace
of a rampart or earthen dun remains. At this day
the whole neighbourhood round the hill teems with
living traditions of Finn and the Fena.
When not employed in training or fighting, the
Fena spent the six months of summer — from the
1st of May to the 31st of October — hunting, and
lived on the produce of the chase, camping out all
the time : during the remaining six months they
were billeted on the well-to-do people all over the
country — fed and lodged free. After King Cormac's
death they became openly rebellious, claiming in
some respects to rule even the monarch of Ireland.
At last the king— Carbery of the LifTey, Cormac
CHAP. III.] WARFARE. - 45
mac Art's son, who came to the throne a.d. 279
— marched against them, and annihilated them
in the bloody battle of Gavra, near Skreen in
Meath (a.d. 297) : but was himself slain in the
battle.
We have seen that the Red Branch Knights, and
their contemporary heroes of Munster and Connaught,
fought, rode, and raced in chariots ; and that they
erected immense dans or forts. In both these
respects the Fena of Erin stand in complete contrast.
In none of the tales or other literature of the Fena is
it mentioned that they used chariots in battle, and
they scarcely ever used them in any way, though
during the whole period of their existence chariots
were used all through Ireland. Then as to duns :
while we have still remaining the majestic ruins of
many of the forts erected by the Red Branch Knights,
as shown at page 39, there are, so far as I can find
out, no corresponding forts in any part of Ireland
attributed to the Fena in the ancient tales. Even on
the Hill of Allen, where if anywhere we might
expect to find a mighty fortification like that at
Downpatrick, there is no vestige of a rath. No
forts, large or small, that I know of, commemorate
any others of the great leaders — Ossian, Oscar,
Dermot O'Dyna, Goll mac Morna, Cailte mac Ronain,
orConanMail, such as we have for Cuculainn,Keltar
of the Battles, Cethern of the Brilliant Deeds, Curoi
mac Daire, and others ; though during their time
forts were built by chiefs and people all over the
country.
To come to strictly historic times : — Ordinary
War Service was of several kinds. Everyman who
46 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
held land in any sort of tenancy was obliged to bear
a part in the wars of the tribe and in the defence
of their common territory. The number of days in
the year that each should serve was strictly denned
by law : and when the time was ended, he might
return to his home — unless some very special need
arose. A chief or king, if required, was bound to
send a certain number of men, fully armed, for a
fixed time periodically, to serve his superior in war.
The men of the superior king's own immediate
territory, with the contingents supplied to him from
the several subordinate tribes by their chiefs, went to
form his army. The tributary chief again made up
the contingent to be sent to his superior, partly
from his own household troops, and partly by small
contingents from his sub-chiefs.
The king had in his service a champion or chief
fighting man, called Aire-echta — always a faith or
noble (see page 77, below) — whose duty it was to
avenge all insults or offences offered to the families
of the king and tribe, particularly murder : like the
"avenger of blood" of the Jews and other ancient
nations. In any expected danger from without he
had to keep watch — with a sufficient force — at the
most dangerous ford or pass — called beama baoghaill
[barna beel] or " gap of danger " — on that part of
the border where invasion was expected, and prevent
the entrance of any enemy.
Kings and great chiefs almost always kept bodies
of mercenary soldiers — commonly small in number
and often as a mere bodyguard — under regular pay,
something like the soldiers of our present standing
army. These men hired themselves wherever they
CHAP. III.] WARFARE. 47
could get the best pay. Hired soldiers are con-
stantly mentioned in our ancient records. Bodies of
Scotchmen, and of Welshmen, were very often in the
service of Irish kings : and we also find companies
of Irish under similar conditions serving in Wales
and Scotland.
The maintenance and pay of such soldiers was
called in Irish buanacht, whence men serving for pay
and support were often called " bonnaghts " by
English writers of the time of Elizabeth. The
practice of hiring foreign mercenaries, which was
commenced at a very early period, was continued
down to the sixteenth century : and we have already
seen (p. 27, supra) that Shane O'Neill had a number
of fierce soldiers from Scotland as bodyguard.
These several bodies constituted a small standing
army. But where large armies had to be brought
into the field, the men of the tribe or tribes owing
allegiance and service were called upon to serve. It
was understood, however, that this was only for the
single campaign, or for some specified time, as
already stated, at the end of which they were free
to return to their homes. An army of men on
campaign usually consisted of men of all the different
kinds of service.
Military Asylums— According to the " Battle of
Rossnaree," in the Book of Leinster, there was an
asylum for the old warriors of the Red Branch — in
some manner corresponding with the present Chelsea
Hospital, and with the Royal Hospital in Dublin —
where those who were too old to fight were kept in
ease and comfort : and it was under the direction
of one governor or commander. It was probably
48 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
supported partly at the public expense, and partly
by payments from the inmates : but on this point
there is no information.
Knighthood. — As far back as our oldest traditions
reach there existed in Ireland an institution of knight-
hood. The Bed Branch Knights have already been
mentioned: and it appears that admission to their
ranks was attended with much formality. It was
usual to knight boys at an early age, commonly at
seven years. This was the age, according to the
statement of Tigernach — and also of the Tales — at
which the young hero Cuculainn was admitted : and
his example as to age was often followed in subse-
quent times. The young candidate was given a
number of little spears suitable to his age and
strength, which he hurled against a shield ; and the
more spears he broke the more credit he received.
These are the native Irish accounts ; and they are
strikingly corroborated by Froissart, who tells us that
the same custom still existed in Ireland when King
Eichard II. visited this country in 1494. This
historian moreover states that the custom of knighting
boys at seven, with ceremonies like those of the Irish,
existed among the Anglo-Saxon kings. But in Ire-
land the rule of the seven years was not universally,
or even generally, followed — except perhaps in case of
the sons of kings or great nobles. The ceremony was
commonly put off till the candidate was able to fight.
The usual Irish words for a knight are curad [curra]
and ridire [riddera], of which the last is the same
as the German ritter, and is probably borrowed.
"Assuming knighthood" is commonly expressed in
Irish by " taking valour."
CHAP. III.] WARFARE. 49
3. Anns, Offensive and Defensive.
Handstone. — Among the missive weapons of the
ancient Irish was the handstone, which was kept
ready for use in the hollow of the shield, and flung
from the hand when the occasion came for using it.
Handstones were specially made, and were believed
to possess some sort of malign mystical quality,
which rendered them very dangerous to the enemy.
The handstone was called by various names, such as
clock, lia, lee, &c.
Sling and Sling-stones.— A much more effective
instrument for stone-throwing was the sling, which
is constantly mentioned in the Tales of the Tain, as
well as in Cormac's Glossary and other authorities,
in such a way as to show that it formed an important
item in the offensive arms of a warrior. The
accounts, in the old writings, of the dexterity and
fatal precision with which Cuculainn and other heroes
flung their sling-stones, remind us of the Scriptural
record of the 700 chosen warriors of Gibeah who
could fight with left and right hand alike, and who
flung their sling-stones with such aim that they
could hit even a hair, and not miss by the stone's
going on either side (Judges xx. 16).
The Irish used two kinds of sling. One, which
was called by two names teilm and taball [tellim
taval] consisted of two thongs attached to a piece of
leather at bottom to hold the stone or other missile :
a form of sling which was common all over the world,
and which continues to be used by boys to this day.
The other was called crann-tabaill, i.e. ' wood-sling '
E
50 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
or 'staff- sling,' from crann, 'a tree, a staff, a piece of
wood of any kind ' ; which indicates that the sling so
designated was formed of a long staff of wood with
one or two thongs — like the slings we read of as used
by many other ancient nations. David killed Goliath
with a staff-sling. Those who carried a sling kept a
supply of round stones, sometimes artificially formed.
Numerous sling-stones have been found from time to
time — many perfectly round — in raths and crannoges,
some the size of a small plum, some as large as
an orange, of which many specimens are preserved in
museums.
Though the Irish had the Bow and Arrow, it was
never a favourite weapon with them. They used
only the long bow, which was from
four to five feet in length, and called
fidbac [feevak], signi-
fying ' wood - bend,'
Fig. io.
Fig. ii.
Fig. 9.
Flint arrow-heads. Fig. 9 shows arrow with a piece of the shaft and the
tying gut as it was found. (From Wilde's Catalogue.)
from jid, ' wood,' and bac, * a bend.' The arrow,
which was called saiged [sy'-ed], was tipped with
flint or metal. A supply of arrows was kept in a
CHAP. III.]
WARFARE.
51
quiver, called saiyed-bolg , meaning ' arrow - bag.'
Arrow-heads, both of flint and of bronze, are
constantly found in every part of Ireland, and may
be seen in vast numbers in the National Museum.
Those of bronze are usually made with a hollow cro
or socket into which the wood was inserted.
The Mace— The club or mace— known by two
names— matan and lorg — though pretty often men-
tioned, does not appear to
have been very generally
used. In the Tales, a giant
or an unusually strong
and mighty champion, is
sometimes represented as
armed with a mace. There
can be no doubt that the
mace was used : for in
the National Museum in
Dublin there are several
specimens of bronze mace-
heads with projecting
spikes. One of them is
here represented, which,
fixed firmly on the top of
a strong lorg or handle,
and wielded by a powerful
arm, must have been a formidable weapon.
Spear. — The Irish battle-spears were used both for
thrusting and for casting. They were of various
shapes and sizes : but all consisted of a bronze or
iron head, fixed on a wooden handle by means of a
hollow cro or socket, into which the end of the
handle was thrust and kept in place by rivets. The
e2
Fig. 12.
Bronze head of Irish battle-mace,
now in the National Museum, Dublin.
The handle was fastened in the socket.
Picture half size.
52 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART
manufacture of spear-heads was carried to great per-
fection in Ireland at a very early age — long before
the Christian era — and many of
those preserved in our museums
are extremely graceful and beauti-
ful in design and perfect in finish :
evidently the work of trained and
highly skilled artists. The iron
spears were hammered into shape :
those of bronze were cast in
moulds, and several spe-
cimens of these moulds
may be seen in the
National Museum (see
chapter xx., section 3,
infra). Both bronze and
iron spear - heads are
mentioned in our oldest
literature.
In the National Museum
in Dublin there is a col-
lection of several hundred
spear-heads of all shapes
and sizes, the greater
number of bronze, but
some of iron, and some of
copper ; and every other
museum in the country
has its own collection.
They vary in length from
36 inches down. Some of the Irish names for
spear-heads designated special shapes, while others
were applied to spears of whatever shape or size.
Fig. 14.
Specimens of bronze spear-heads in
the National Museum, Dublin. (From
Wilde's Catalogue.)
CHAP. III.]
WARFAEE.
53
The words gae, ga, or gai ; faga or foga ; and sleg
(now written sleagh : pron. sla) were sometimes
used as terms for a spear or javelin in general.
Among the spears of the Firbolgs was one called
fiarlann [feerlann] , ■ curved blade ' (fiar, * curved ' ;
lann, l a blade '), of which many specimens are to be
seen in the National Museum. The fiarlann was
rather a short sword than a spear.
Fig. 15.
Fig. 16.
Fig. 17.
Fig. 15, a Firbolg spear-head ; fig. 16, a Dedannan one ; fig. 17, a Fiarlann.
Now in the National Museum, Dublin.
In the ancient Irish battle-tales a sharp distinction
is made between the spears of the Firbolgs and of
the Dedannans respectively : to which O'Curry first
drew attention. The Firbolg spears are described as
broad and thick, with the top rounded and sharp-
54 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
edged, and having a thick handle. The spear used
by the Dedannans was very different, being long,
narrow, and graceful, with a very sharp point.
Whether these two colonies are fictitious or not, a
large number of spear-heads in the National Museum
answer to those descriptions.
The Irish casting-spear was usually furnished with
a loop of string called suanem or suaineamh [soonev]
attached to the handle near the middle, and made
of silk or flax. The Greeks and Eomans had a loop
of a similar kind on their spears — called amentum by
the Latins : but how exactly the loop was used by
Greeks, Eomans, or Irish, or what its effect was, is a
matter of conjecture. We only know that, like the
Roman soldier, the Irish warrior put his forefinger in
the loop in the act of casting.
Some of the spears of the heroes of the Red Branch
and other great champions are described in the old
legends as terrible and mysterious weapons. The
spear of Keltar of the Battles, which was called
Lon or Luin, twisted and writhed in the hand of the
warrior who bore it, striving to make for the victim
whose blood was ready for spilling. Some spears
were regularly seized with a rage for massacre ; and
then the bronze head grew red-hot, so that it had to
be kept near a caldron of cold water, or, more com-
monly, of black poisonous liquid, into which it was
plunged whenever it blazed up with the murder fit.
The Greeks of old had the same notion ; and those
fearful Irish spears remind us of the spear of Achilles,
as mentioned by Homer, which when the infuriated
hero flung it at Lycaon, missed the intended victim,
and, plunging into the earth, " stood in the ground,
CHAP. III.]
WARFARE.
55
Fig. 18.
hungering for the flesh of men." So
also another Greek hero is made to say :
" My spear rageth in my
hands," with the eagerness f^
to plunge at the Trojans.
Sword.— The Irish were
fond of adorning their
swords elaborately. Those
who could afford it had the
hilt ornamented with gold
and gems. But the most
common practice was to set
the hilts round with the
teeth of large sea-animals,
especially those of the sea-
horse— a custom also com-
mon among the Welsh.
This practice was noticed
by the Eoman geographer
Solinus in the third cen-
tury a.d. :— " Those [of the
Irish] who cultivate ele-
gance adorn the hilts of
their swords with the teeth
of great* sea-animals."
The usual term for an
ordinary sword was cloidem
[cleeve] : and one of the
largest size was called cloi-
dem-mor, a name which the
Ancient insh bronze Scotch retain to this day
sword : 22^ in. long:
U&£ft££i ^ the Anglicised form
on. (From Wilde's
Catalogue.)
Fig. 10.
Bronze scabbard ;
now 19^ in. long.
1 ' claymore, " which nearly f™^ Kilk- Arcl>'
56 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
represents the proper sound. Many warriors prac-
tised to use the sword with the left hand as well as
with the right, so as to be able to alternate, or to
fight with one in each hand as occasion required.
Some made it a practice to sleep with their favourite
sword lying beside them under the bed-clothes. A
short sword or dagger was much in use among the
Irish, called a scian [skean], literally a ' knife.'
The blade (lann) was kept in a sheath or scabbard.
Sometimes the sheath was made of bronze : and
several of these are preserved in museums. The
beautiful specimen figured on last page was found in
a crannoge.
The battle-axe [tuag or tuagh, pron. tooa) has
been in use from prehistoric
times in Ireland ; as is evi-
dent from the fact that
numerous axe -heads of stone,
as well as of bronze, copper
Fig. 20. Fig. 21.
Two types of metallic celts or early battle-axes. (From Wilde's Catalogue.)
and iron, have been found from time to time, and
are to be seen in hundreds in the National Museum
CHAP. III.]
WARFARE.
57
and elsewhere. These are now commonly called celts,
of which the illustrations on last page will give a
good idea.
In later times the Irish were noted for their fatal
dexterity with the battle-axe. Giraldus mentions
that among other weapons they had a heavy axe
excellently well wrought and
tempered ; and he goes on to
say : — " They make use of but
Fig. 22.
Fig. 23.
To show how the metallic celts or axe-heads were fastened on handles.
Fig. 23 shows one found in its original handle, as seen in the illustration.
It has a loop underneath, which is partly eaten away by rust. Fig. 22 is a
conjectural restoration of the fastening of this kind of celt. (From Wilde's
Catalogue.)
one hand to the axe when they stride, and extend
the thumb along the handle to guide the blow :
from which neither the crested helmet can defend
the head, nor the iron folds of the armour the rest
of the body. From whence it has happened, even
in our times, that the whole thigh of a soldier,
though cased in well-tempered armour, hath been
58 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
lopped off by a single blow of the axe." There
were two kinds of battle-axes : a broad one, gene-
rally used by galloglasses,
and a long, narrow one,
called a sparra or sparth :
VT^T^ examples of both are illus-
trated in figures 24 and 25.
The narrow axe seems to
have been the earlier form.
fa hi
Fig. 24.
Fig. 25.
Fig. 24, Dermot Mac Murrogh, with the narrow battle-axe called "sparra"
or "sparth." In a MS. of Giraldus Cambrensis. (From Wilde's Catalogue.)
Fig. 25, two galloglasses depicted on a map of Ireland of 1567: showing the
broad battle-axe. One of the two galloglasses in fig. vg below holds a broad
axe.
Armour. — We know from the best authorities that
at the time of the invasion — i.e., in the twelfth cen-
tury— the Irish used no metallic armour. Giraldus
-" They go to battle without armour, consider-
CHAP. III.] WARFARE. 59
ing it a burden, and deeming it brave and honour-
able to fight without it."
The Danes wore armour : and it is not unlikely that
the Irish may have begun to imitate them before the
twelfth century : but, if so, it was only in rare cases.
They never took to it till after the twelfth century,
and then only in imitation of the English.
But the tales describe another kind of protective
covering as worn by Cuculainn, and by others ;
namely, a primitive corslet made of bull-hide leather
stitched with thongs, " for repelling lances and
sword-points, and spears, so that they used to fly
off from him as if they struck against a stone."
Greaves to protect the legs from the knee down
were used, and called by the name asdn.
Helmet. — That the Irish wore a helmet of some
kind in battle is certain : but it is not an easy matter
to determine the exact shape and material. It was
called cathbharr [caffar] , i.e., ' battle-top,' or battle-
cap, from cath [cah], ' a battle,' and barr, ' the top.'
It was probably made of hard tanned leather, pos-
sibly chequered with bars of iron or bronze. The
warriors often dyed their helmets in colours : and
there was commonly a crest on top.
Shield. — From the earliest period of history and
tradition, and doubtless from times beyond the reach
of both, the Irish used shields in battle. The most
ancient shields were made of wicker-work, covered
with hides : they were oval-shaped, often large
enough to cover the whole body, and convex on the
outside. It was to this primitive shield that the
Irish first applied the word sciath [skee-a], which
afterwards came to be the most general name for a
60 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
shield of whatever size or material. These wicker
shields — of various sizes — continued in use in Ulster
even so late as the sixteenth century, and in the
Highlands of Scotland till 200 years ago.
Shields were ornamented with devices or figures,
the design on each being a sort of cognisance of the
owner to distinguish him from all others. These
designs would appear to have generally consisted of
concentric circles, often ornamented with circular
rows of projecting studs or bosses, and variously
spaced and coloured for different shields. As generally
confirming the truth of these accounts, the shields
in the Museum have a number of beautifully wrought
concentric circles formed either of continuous lines
or of rows of studs ; as seen in the illustration.
Sometimes figures of animals were painted on shields.
Shields were often coloured according to the fancy
of the wearer. We read of some as brown, some
blood-red ; while many were made pure white. This
fashion of painting shields in various colours con-
tinued in use to the time of Elizabeth.
Hide-covered shields were often whitened with
lime or chalk, which was allowed to dry and harden,
as soldiers now pipeclay their belts. Hence we often
find in the Tales such expressions as the follow-
ing : — " There was an atmosphere of fire from [the
clashing of] sword and spear-edge, and a cloud of
white dust from the cailc or lime of the shields."
The shields in most general use were circular,
small, and light, of wickerwork, yew, or more rarely
of bronze, from 13 to 20 inches in diameter, as we
see by numerous figures of armed men on the high
crosses and in manuscripts, all of whom are repre-
Fig. 27.
62 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
sented with shields of this size and shape. I do not
remember seeing one with the large oval shield.
Specimens of both yew and bronze shields have been
found, and are now preserved in museums. Shields
were cleaned up and brightened before battle. Those
that required it were newly coloured, or whitened
with a fresh coating of chalk or lime : and the
metallic ones were burnished — all done by gillies or
The shield, when in use, was held in the left hand
by a looped handle or crossbar, or by a strong leather
strap, in the centre of the inside, as seen in fig. 27,
above. But as an additional precaution it was
secured by a long strap, called iris or sdathrach
[skiheragh], that went loosely round the neck.
When not in use, it was slung over the shoulder
by the strap from the neck.
In pagan times it was believed that the shield
of a king or of any great commander, when its bearer
was dangerously pressed in battle, uttered a loud
melancholy moan which was heard all over Ireland,
and which the shields of other heroes took up and
continued. The shield-moan was further prolonged ;
for as soon as it was heard, the " Three Waves
of Erin" uttered their loud melancholy roar in
response. (For the Three Waves, see chap, xxvi.,
sect. 9.)
4. Strategy, Tactics, and Modes of Fighting.
Subordination of Ranks.— Though the discipline
of the Irish in time of war and on the field of battle
was very inferior to that of the Anglo-Normans, we
CHAP. III.] WARFARE. 63
are not to conclude that they were ignorant or care-
less of the Science and Art of War. On the contrary,
military science was studied with much care. The
whole army was divided into catha [caha] or
battalions, each cath consisting of 3000 men with
a commander ; and these again were parcelled into
smaller companies, down to nine, with officers
regularly descending in rank.
Encampment. — During marches the leaders were
very particular about their encampments. Even
when the halt was only for a night or two, careful
arrangements were made as to tents, sitting-places,
sleeping accommodation, bathing, cooking, etc. :
and everything was done to make the encampment
comfortable and enjoyable. In all cases the camp
was fortified, so far as the time permitted : and of
course sentinels were set while the army slept.
Where the sojourn was likely to be pretty long, more
elaborate arrangements were made.
Sentinels and Watchmen. — In the early stages
of society, when wars were frequent, look-out points
were very important : sometimes they were on the
seashore, so that the sentinel might catch sight of
invaders from the sea.
Immediately beside the palace, or the temporary
residence, of every king or great chief, a sentinel or
watchman kept watch and ward day and night. In
time of battle or campaign, warriors slept at night
with a single weapon by their side for use in any
sudden alarm, their principal arms hanging on the
racks in the proper place.
Heralds. — In the course of warfare, heralds or
envoys were often employed, as among all other
64 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
nations. When on their mission, they were regarded
as sacred and inviolable, and were treated with the
utmost respect, even by the bitterest enemies : exactly
as Homer describes the heralds of the Greeks. Heralds
had a special dress by which they were at once
recognised ; and they commonly carried in one hand
a white wand or hand-staff, and in the other a sword,
symbolical of the alternative to be accepted — peace
or war.
Banners, Flags, and Standards. - From the
earliest period of their history the Irish used
banners or standards, which were borne before the
army when going into battle, or on ordinary marches :
a custom common to the Celts and Romans, but
unknown to the Homeric Greeks. In Ireland the
office of standard-bearer to each king or ^chief was
hereditary, like all other important functions.
A banner is denoted by the word meirge [mair-ya] .
In the accounts of many of the ancient Irish battles,
there are descriptions of the standards borne by each
chief or clan. The commander-in-chief had his own
banner, and so had each captain under his command :
and each usually bore some device or figure, so that
the several captains and companies could be dis-
tinguished from a distance ; and their deeds recorded
by the shanachies who attended the army. The
attendant shanachies of those old times answered in
some sort to the war correspondents of our own day.
The standard of Ulster was a yellow lion on green
satin ; that of Dalaradia, yellow satin ; of 0' Sullivan,
a spear with an adder entwined with it ; and so on.
Cathach or ' Battler.' — In Christian times it was
usual for the ruler of a clan, tribe, or sub-kingdom,
CHAP. III.] WARFARE. G5
to have a relic, commonly consecrated by the patron
saint of the district, which the chief brought to battle
with him, in the hope that it would ensure victory :
somewhat as the Jews used the Ark of the Covenant.
Such a relic was called a cathach [caha], i.e.prceliatoi'
or 'battler.' The usual formula for the use of the
cathach was to cause it to be carried desiol or sunwise
— commonly by an ecclesiastic— three times round
the army before the battle began.
The most celebrated of these battle-relics was the
cathach or battle-book of the O'Donnells of Tirconnell,
which may now be seen in the National Museum in
Dublin. It is a small square box or shrine made of
silver gilt, with enamel and precious stones, con-
taining a copy of a portion of the Psalms, once
believed to have been written by St. Columkille, the
patron of the Kinel Connell, or O'Donnell family.
The permanent cathach or battle-relic of each tribe
was placed in the keeping of some particular family.
This was considered a great honour ; and the family
had usually a tract of land free of rent, as well as
other perquisites, as payment for the faithful dis-
charge of their duty as custodians.
Chivalry. — In Ireland, in ancient times, people
as a general rule declined to take advantage of
surprises or stratagems in war. They had a sort of
chivalrous feeling in the matter, and did not seek to
conceal — and sometimes even gave open notice of —
intended attacks, or came to an agreement with their
adversaries as to the time and place to fight the
matter out. In later ages, and at the present day,
such plain, unsophisticated dealing would be looked
upon as bad generalship. But not unfrequently a
GO GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
general rose up with unusual military genius and
with less scrupulous notions of chivalry, who did not
hesitate to employ ambush and other stratagems :
and many victories are recorded as obtained by these
means.
Medical Attendance in Battle. — A number of
physicians or surgeons always accompanied an army
going to battle to attend to the wounded, who were
brought to them at the rear during the fight. This
was quite an established institution from the most
remote times — a fact of which there can be no doubt
notwithstanding the number of fables and exaggera-
tions that are mixed up with the accounts of their
cures. We are now familiar with the humane prac-
tice in war of giving medical aid after the battle
to the wounded, without distinction of friend or
enemy : and it is interesting to observe that the same
idea was equally familiar to the writers of the Tain
Bo Quelna. When Cethern [Kehern], a famous
Ulster warrior, returned from a fight against the
Connaught forces, all covered with wounds, a request
was sent to the Connaught camp — the enemy's — for
physicians for him, as it happened that none of the
Ulster physicians were at the moment available :
and physicians were at once despatched with the
messenger.
Military Formation and Marching. — In going
to battle the Irish often rushed pell-mell in a crowd
without any order. But they sometimes adopted a
more scientific plan, advancing in regular formation,
shoulder to shoulder, forming a solid front with
shields and spears. On the morning of the day of
battle each man usually put as much food in a wallet
CHAP. III.]
WARFARE.
67
that hung by his side as was sufficient for the day.
When a commander had reason to suspect the loyalty
or courage of any of his men in a coming battle, he
sometimes adopted a curious plan to prevent de-
sertion or flight off the field. He fettered them
securely in pairs, leg to leg, leaving them free in all
other respects.
Horse and Foot. — Cavalry did not form an im-
portant feature of the ancient Irish military system :
we do not find cavalry mentioned at all in the Battle
of Clontarf, either as used by the Irish or Danes.
But kings kept in their service small bodies of horse-
soldiers, commonly called
in Irish "horse-host."
The chief men, too, often
rode in battle, and the
leaders fought on horse-
back. After the Anglo-
Norman Invasion cavalry
came into general use.
Each horseman had at
least one footman to
attend him — called a gilla
or dalteen — armed only
with a dart or javelin.
In later times each horse-
man had two and some-
times three attendants.
Two kinds of foot-
soldiers are often mentioned in Irish records, the
kern and galloglasses. The kern were light-armed
soldiers : they wore headpieces, and fought with a
sklan (a dagger or short sword) and with a javelin.
f2
Fig. 28.
Foot-soldier preparing to receive charge.
One of several grotesque figures in the illus-
trations of the Book of Kells (seventh or
eighth century). This shows that when re-
ceiving a charge, the Irish soldiers — some-
times at least — went on one knee. (From
Wilde's Catalogue. 1
68 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
The galloglasses appear only in later times — after
the Anglo-Norman Invasion. They are not met
with in ancient Irish writings. They were heavy-
armed infantry, wearing a coat of mail and an iron
helmet, with a long sword by the side, and carrying
in the hand a broad, heavy, keen-edged axe. They
are usually described as large-limbed, tall, and
Fig. 29.
Two of the eight galloglasses on King Felim O'Conor's tomb in Roscommon
Abbey (thireetnth century). (From Kilk. Archseol. Journ.)
fierce-looking. It is almost certain that the gallo-
glasses, and the mode of equipping them, were
imitated from the English.
Trumpets. — The Irish constantly used bronze
war-trumpets in battle, as will be found mentioned
in the chapter on Music ; and from a gloss written
CHAP. III.] WARFARE. 60
by an Irishman in the eighth century we know that
even at that early time the trumpeters had different
notes or musical phrases to direct different move-
ments— for battle, for unyoking, for marching, for
retiring to sleep, for going into council, etc.
War- Cries. — The armies charged with a great
shout called barrdn-f/laed [barran-glay], ' warrior-
shout ' — a custom which continued until late times.
The different tribes and clans had also special war-
cries ; and the Anglo-Normans fell in with this
custom, as they did with many others. The war-cry
of the O'Neills was Lamh-derg aboo, i.e. ' the Red-
hand to victory' (lamh, pron. lauv, 'a hand'), from
the figure of a bloody hand on their crest or cogni-
sance : that of the O'Briens and Mac Carthys, Lamh-
laidir aboo, 'the Strong-hand to victory' (laidir, pron.
lauder, ' strong'). The Kildare Fitz Geralds took as
their cry Crom aboo, from the great Geraldine castle
of Crom or Croom in Limerick ; the Earl of Desmond,
Shanit aboo, from the castle of Shanid in Limerick.
The Butlers' cry was Butler aboo. Most of the other
chiefs, both native and Anglo-Irish, had their several
cries. Martin found this custom among the people
of the Hebrides in 1703 ; and in Ireland war-cries
continued in use to our own day.
70 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
CHAPTER IV.
THE BREHON LAWS.
Section 1. The Brehons.
\w formed a most im-
portant factor both
in public and private
ife in ancient Ire-
land. The native
legal system, as
briefly outlined in
this chapter, existed
in its fulness before
the ninth century.
It was somewhat
disturbed by the
Fig. 30.
Capital L in Book of Kells ; full size. (From Miss Stokes's Early Christian Art in Ireland.)
CHAP. IV.] THE BREHON LAWS. 71
Danish and Anglo-Norman invasions, and still more
by the English settlement ; but it continued in use
till finally abolished in the beginning of the seven-
teenth century. In this short chapter I merely
attempt a popular sketch of the main features of the
Brehon laws, devoid of technical legal terms.
In Ireland a judge was called a brehon, whence
the native Irish law is commonly known as the
" Brehon Law": but its proper designation is
Fenechas, i.e. the law of the Feine or Fene, or free
land- tillers. The brehons had absolutely in their
hands the interpretation of the laws and the applica-
tion of them to individual cases. They were there-
fore a very influential class of men ; and those
attached to chiefs had free lands for their main-
tenance, which, like the profession itself, remained
in the same family for generations. Those not so
attached lived simply on the fees of their profession,
and many eminent brehons became wealthy. The legal
rules, as set forth in the Law Books, were commonly
very complicated and mixed up with a variety of
technical terms ; and many forms had to be gone
through and many circumstances taken into account,
all legally essential : so that no outsider could hope
to master their intricacies. The brehon had to be
very careful ; for he was himself liable for damages,
besides forfeiting his fee, if he delivered a false or
an unjust judgment.
To become a brehon a person had to go through
a regular, well-defined course of study and training.
It would appear that the same course qualified for
any branch of the legal profession, and that once
a man had mastered the course, he might set up as
72 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
a brehon or judge proper, a consulting lawyer, an
advocate, or a law-agent. In very early times the
brehon was regarded as a mysterious, half-inspired
person, and a divine power kept watch over his
pronouncements to punish him for unjust judg-
ments : — "When the brehons deviated from the truth,
there appeared blotches upon their cheeks." The
great brehon, Morann, son of Carbery Kinncat (king
of Ireland in the first century), wore a sin [sheen]
or collar round his neck, which tightened when he
delivered a false judgment, and expanded again
when he delivered the true one. All this agrees
with the whole tenor of Irish literature, whether
legendary, legal, or historical, which shows the great
respect the Irish entertained for justice pure and
simple according to law, and their horror of unjust
decisions. It was the same at the most ancient
period as it was in the beginning of the seventeenth
century, when Sir John Davies — an Englishman —
the Irish attorney-general of James I., testified : —
" For there is no nation of people under the sunne
that doth love equall and indifferent [i.e. impartial]
justice better then the Irish ; or will rest better
satisfied with the execution thereof, although it bee
against themselves : so as they may have the pro-
tection and benefit of the law, when uppon just
cause they do desire it." But later on the Penal
Laws changed all that, and turned the Irish natural
love of justice into hatred and distrust of law, which
in many ways continues to manifest itself to this
day.
CHAP. IV.] THE BKEHON LAWS. 73
2. The Senchus Mor and other Books of Law.
The brehons had collections of laws in volumes or
tracts, all in the Irish language, by which they regu-
lated their judgments, and which those of them who
kept law-schools expounded to their scholars ; each
tract treating of one subject or one group of subjects.
Many of these have been preserved, and of late years
the most important have been published, with trans-
lations, forming five printed volumes (with a sixth con-
sisting of a valuable Glossary to the preceding five).
Of the tracts contained in these volumes, the two
largest and most important are the Senchus Mor
[Shanahus More] and the Book of Acaill [Ack'ill].
In the ancient Introduction to the Senchus Mor
the following account is given of its original com-
pilation. In the year 438 a.d. a collection of the
pagan laws was made at the request of St. Patrick ;
and Laegaire [Laery], king of Ireland, appointed a
committee of nine learned and eminent persons,
including himself and St. Patrick, to revise them.
At the end of three years these nine produced a new
code, from which everything that clashed with the
Christian doctrine had been carefully excluded. This
was the Senchus Mor.
The very book left by St. Patrick and the others
has been long lost. Successive copies were made
from time to time, with commentaries and explana-
tions appended, till the manuscripts we now possess
were produced. The existing manuscript copies
of the Senchus Mor consist of: — 1. The original
text, written in a large hand with wide spaces
between the lines : 2. An introduction to the text :
74 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
3. Commentaries on the text, in a smaller hand :
4. Glosses or explanations on words and phrases of
the text, in a hand still smaller : commentaries and
glosses commonly written in the spaces between the
i ciwijttfie.1 ^w.
irrfil ..
i H el ot?,ac1i ^Liii4ir olar *ti bec4
i Tarn sop tr<* t^^85!^ i ^ctu»p f ^»» fli-A bif>dC<AcocA
coin cbeUu
Fig. 31.
Facsimile specimen of the Senchus Mor. The four lines of large text are a
part of the Senchus Mor proper ; and they are to be read in the order, second,
first, third, fourth. The commentary {i.e. the small text) consists of seventeen
lines : and, supposing them to be numbered from top to bottom, they are to be
read in this way :— Begin at line 8 (which comments on the line of larger text
right under it) ; then 7, 6, 5; part of 4 and part of 3 (both as far as the curve) ;
the rest of 4, the rest of 3 ; then 2, 1. Resume at 9 and go on in like manner—
sometimes upwards, sometimes downwards — to the end : the reader being guided
all through by the context. No glosses occur on this facsimile.
lines of the text, but often on the margins. Of these
the text, as might be expected, is the most ancient.
The laws were written in the oldest dialect of the
Irish language, called Berla Feini [Bairla-faina],
which even at the time was so difficult that persons
CHAP. IV.] THE BREHON LAWS. 75
about to become brehons had to be specially in-
structed in it. Even the authors of the Commentaries
and Glosses who wrote hundreds of years ago, and
were themselves learned brehons, were often quite at
fault in their attempts to explain the archaic text :
and their words show that they were fully conscious
of the difficulty. It will then be readily understood
that the task of translating these laws was a very
difficult one, rendered all the more so by the number
of technical terms and phrases, many of which are to
this day obscure, as well as by the peculiar style,
which is very elliptical and abrupt — often incomplete
sentences, or mere catch -words of rules not written
down in full, but held in memory by the experts of
the time. Another circumstance that greatly adds
to the difficulty of deciphering these mss. is the con-
fused way in which the Commentaries and glosses
are written in, mainly with the object of economising
the expensive vellum. The explanatory note under
fig. 31 will give some idea of this.
The two great Irish scholars — 0 'Donovan and
O'Curry — who translated the Laws included in the
five printed volumes, were able to do so only after a
life-long study ; and in numerous instances were, to
the last, not quite sure of the meaning. As they
had to retain the legal terms and the elliptical style,
even the translation is hard enough to understand,
and is often unintelligible. It is, moreover, imperfect
for another reason : it was only a preliminary and
provisional translation, containing many imperfec-
tions and errors, to be afterwards corrected ; but the
translators did not live to revise it, and it was
printed as they left it.
76 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
3. Suitability of the Brelion Laics.
The Brelion Code forms a great body of civil,
military, and criminal law. It regulates the various
ranks of society, from the king down to the slave,
and enumerates their several rights and privileges.
There are minute rules for the management of
property, for the several industries — building, brew-
ing, mills, water-courses, fishing-weirs, bees and
honey — for distress or seizure of goods, for tithes,
trespass, and evidence. The relations of landlord
and tenant, the fees of professional men — doctors,
judges, teachers, builders, artificers, — the mutual
duties of father and son, of foster-parents and foster-
children, of master and servant, are all carefully
regulated. In that portion corresponding to what is
now known as criminal law, the various offences are
minutely distinguished : — murder, manslaughter,
assaults, wounding, thefts, and all sorts of wilful
damage ; and accidental injuries from flails, sledge-
hammers, machines, and weapons of all kinds ; and
the amount of compensation is laid down in detail
for almost every possible variety of injury.
The Brehon Law was vehemently condemned by
English writers ; and in several acts of parliament it
was made treason for the English settlers to use it.
But these testimonies are to be received with much
reserve as coming from prejudiced and interested
parties. We have good reason to believe that the
Brehon Law was very well suited to the society in
which, and from which, it grew up. This view is
confirmed by the well-known fact that when the
CHAP. IV.] THE BREHON LAWS. 77
English settlers living outside the Pale adopted
the Irish manners and customs, they all, both high
and low, abandoned their own law and adopted the
Brehon Code, to which they became quite as much
attached as the Irish themselves.
4. Structure of Society.
Five main Classes of People.— The lay people
were divided into classes, from the king down to the
slave, and the Brehon Law took cognizance of all —
setting forth their rights, duties, and privileges.
The leading, though not the sole, qualification to
confer rank was property ; the rank being, roughly
speaking, in proportion to the amount. Under cer-
tain conditions, persons could pass from one class to
the next above, always provided their character was
unimpeachable.
There were five main classes of people : — 1. Kings
of several grades, from the king of the tuath or
cantred up to the king of Ireland : 2. Nobles, which
class indeed included kings : 3. Non-noble Freemen
with property : 4. Non-noble Freemen without pro-
perty, or with some, but not sufficient to place them
among the class next above : 5. The non-free classes.
The first three — Kings, Nobles, non-noble Freemen
with property — were the privileged classes ; a person
belonging to these was an aire [arra] or chief.
Kings have been treated of in chapter ii.
Flaiths or Nobles.— The Nobles were those who
had land as their own property, for which they did
not pay rent : they were the owners of the soil — the
aristocracy. An aire of this class was called a
78 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART. I.
Flaith [flah] , i.e. a noble, a chief, a prince. There
were several ranks of nobles, the rank depending
chiefly on the amount of landed property.
Non-noble Freemen with Property. — A person
belonging to the other class of aire — a non-noble
rent-paying freeman with property (No. 3, above) —
had no land of his own, his property consisting of
cattle and other movable goods ; hence he was called
a Bo-aire, i.e. a 'cow-chief (bo, 'a cow'). He
should rent a certain amount of land, and possess a
certain amount of property in cattle and other goods,
to entitle him to rank as an aire. As in the case
of the nobles, there were several classes of bo-aires,
ranking according to their property. If a person
belonging to the highest class of bo-aires could
prove that he had twice as much property as was
required for the lowest rank of noble, and complied
with certain other conditions and formalities, and
also provided his father and grandfather had been
aires who owned land, he was himself entitled to
take rank as a noble of the lowest rank.
The three preceding main classes — kings, nobles,
and bo-aires — were all aires, chiefs, or privileged
people : the first two being fiaiths or noble aires, the
third, non-noble aires, i.e. free tenants, with property
sufficient to entitle them to the position of aire. All
three had some part in the government of the country
and in the administration of the law, as kings,
tanists, nobles, military chiefs, magistrates, and
persons otherwise in authority ; and they commonly
wore a fiesc or bracelet on the arm as a mark of
their dignity.
CHAP. IV.] THE BREHOX LAWS. 79
Non-noble Freemen without Property. — The
next class — the fourth — the freemen with little or
with no property, were eeiles [kailas] or free tenants.
They differed from the bo- aires only in not being-
rich enough to rank as aires or chiefs ; for the
bo-aires were themselves eeiles or rent-payers ; and
accordingly a man of the fourth class could become
a bo-aire if he accumulated property enough : the
amount being laid down in the Brehon Law. These
eeiles or tenants, or free rent-payers— corresponding
with the old English eeorls or churls — formed the
great body of the farming class. They were called
aithech [ah'-egh], i.e. 'plebeian,' 'farmer,' 'peasant,'
to distinguish them from the aires or chieftain grades :
and the term feini or fene [faine], which means
much the same as aithech, was also applied to them.
The land held by the feine or free tenants was
either a part of the tribe-land (for which see p. 82,
below), or was the private property of some fiaith or
noble, from whom they rented it. Everywhere in
the literature, especially in the laws, the feine or free
farming classes are spoken of as a most important
part of the community — as the foundation of society,
and as the ultimate source of law and authority.
Tradesmen formed another very important class of
freemen. The greater number belonged to the fourth
class — freemen without property. Some crafts were
1 noble ' or privileged, of which the members en-
joyed advantages and privileges beyond those of
other trades: and some high-class craftsmen belonged
to the class aire or chief.
The Non-free Classes.— So far we have treated
of freemen, that is those who enjoyed all the rights
80 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
of the tribe, of which the most important was the
right to the use of a portion of the tribe-land and
commons (for which see p. 83, below). We now come
to treat of the non-free classes. The term 'non-
free ' does not necessarily mean that they were
slaves. The non-free people were those who had
not the full rights of the free people of the tribe.
They had no claim to any part of the tribe-land,
though they were permitted, under strict conditions,
to till little plots for mere subsistence. This was by far
the most serious of their disabilities. Their stand-
ing varied, some being absolute slaves, some little
removed from slavery, and others far above it. That
slavery pure and simple existed in Ireland in early
times we know* from the law-books as well as from
history ; and that it continued to a comparatively
late period is proved by the testimony of Giraldus
Cambrensis — twelfth century — who relates that it
was a common custom among the English to sell their
children and other relatives to the Irish for slaves —
Bristol being the great mart for the trade. From
this, as well as from our own records, we see that some
slaves were imported. But the greater number were
native Irish, who, from various causes had lost their
liberty and had been reduced to a state of slavery.
Groups of Society. — The people were formed
into groups of various sizes, from the family upwards.
The Family was the group consisting of the living
parents and all their descendants. The Sept was
a larger group, descended from common parents long
since dead : but this is an imported word, brought
into use in comparatively late times. All the mem-
bers of a sept were nearly related, and in later times
CHAP. IV.] THE BREHON LAWS. 81
bore the same surname. The Clan or house was
still larger. Claim means ' children,' and the word
therefore implied descent from one ancestor. The
word, fine [finna] usually meant a group of persons
related by blood within certain degrees of consan-
guinity, all residing in the same neighbourhood ;
but it was often applied in a much wider sense.
The Tribe (tuath) was made up of several septs,
clans, or houses, and usually claimed, like the sub-
ordinate groups, to be descended from a common
ancestor. The adoption of strangers — sometimes
individuals, sometimes whole groups — into the family
or clan wras common ; but it required the consent of
the fine or circle of near relations — formally given at
a court meeting. From all this it will be seen .that
in every tribe there was much admixture ; and the
theory of common descent from one ancestor became
a fiction, except for the leading families, who kept a
careful record of their genealogy.
5. The Laws relating to Land.
Land originally common Property.— It would
appear that originally — in prehistoric times — the
land was all common property, belonging to the tribe,
not to individuals, and chief and people were liable
to be called on to give up their portions for a new
distribution. But as time went on, this custom was
gradually broken in upon ; and the lands held by
some, after long possession, came to be looked upon
as private property. As far back as our records go,
there was some private ownership in land.
G
82 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
Fiye ways of holding Land.— Within historic
times the following were the rules of land tenure, as
set forth chiefly in the Brehon Laws, and also in
some important points by early English writers.
The tribe (or aggregate of tribes), under the rule of
one king or chief, held permanently a definite district
of the country. The tribe was divided, as already
described, into smaller groups — clans or septs — each
of which, being governed by a sub-chief under the
chief of the tribe, was a sort of miniature of the
whole tribe ; and each clan was permanently settled
down on a separate portion of the land, which was
considered as their separate property, and which was
not interfered with by any other clans or septs of the
tribe. The land was held by individuals in some one
of fiye different ways.
First.— The chief, whether of the tribe or of the
sept, had a portion as mensal land, for life or for
as long as he remained chief (for which, see p. 22,
supra).
Second. — Another portion was held as private
property by persons who had come, in various ways,
to own the land.
Third. — Persons held, as tenants, portions of the
lands belonging to those who owned it as private
property, or portions of the mensal land of the chief
— much like tenants of the present day : these paid
what was equivalent to rent — always in kind. The
term was commonly seven years, and they might
sublet to under-tenants.
Fourth. — The rest of the arable land, which was
called the Tribe-land— equivalent to the folc or folk
land of England— forming by far the largest part of
CHAP. IV.] THE BREH0N LAWS. 88
the territory, belonged to the people in general, the
several subdivisions of it to the several septs, no part
being private property. This was occupied by the
free members of the sept, who were owners for the
time being, each of his own farm. Every free man
had a right to his share — a right never questioned.
Those who occupied the tribe-land did not hold for
any fixed term, for the land of the sept was liable to
gavelkind (page 86, below) or redistribution from
time to time— once every three or four years. Yet
they were not tenants at will, for they could not be
disturbed till the time of gavelling ; even then each
man kept his crops and got compensation for unex-
hausted improvements ; and though he gave up one
farm, he always got another.
Fifth. — The non- arable or waste land — mountain,
forest, bog, &c. — was Commons-land. This was not
appropriated by individuals ; but every free man had
a right to use it for grazing, for procuring fuel, or
for the chase. There was no need of subdividing
the commons by fences, for the cattle of all grazed
over it without distinction. This custom still exists
in many places all through Ireland.
The portion of territory occupied by each clan or
sept commonly included land held in all the five
ways here described. It should be observed that the
individuals and families who owned land as private
property were comparatively few, and their posses-
sions were not extensive : the great bulk of both
people and land fell under the conditions of tenure
described under the Fourth and Fifth headings.
Tenants : their Payments and Subsidies.—
Every tribesman had to pay to his chief certain
g2
84 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
subsidies according to his means. Those who held
portion of the tribe-land, and who used the commons-
land for grazing or other purposes, paid these sub-
sidies of course ; but beyond this they had no rent to
pay to any individual for land held or used under
headings four and five described above.
The tribesman who placed himself under the
protection of a chief, and who held land, whether it
was the private property of the lessor or a part of the
general tribe-land, was, as already explained, a Ceile
[cail'eh] or tenant; also called feme and aithech, i.e. a
plebeian, farmer, or rent-payer. But a man who
takes land must have stock — cows and sheep for the
pasture-land, horses or oxen to carry on the work of
tillage. A small proportion of the ceiles had stock of
their own, but the great majority had not. Where
the tenant needed stock it was the custom for the
chief to give him as much as he wanted at certain
rates of payment. This custom of giving and taking
stock on hire was universal in Ireland, and was
regulated in great detail by the Brehon Law.
Every tenant and every tradesman had to give his
chief a yearly or half-yearly tribute, chiefly food-
supplies — cows, pigs, corn, bacon, butter, honey,
malt for making ale, &c. — the amount chiefly depend-
ing on the quantity of land he held and on the
amount of stock he hired. Some tenants were
obliged to give coinmed [coiney], that is to say, the
chief was privileged to go with a retinue, for one or
more days to the house of the tenant, who was to
lodge and feed them for the time. This was an evil
custom, liable to great abuse ; and it was afterwards
imitated by the Anglo-Norman chiefs, who called it
CHAP. IV.] THE BREHOX LAWS. 85
coyne and liyery ; which they chiefly levied from
their own people, the English settlers. They com-
mitted great excesses, and their coyne and livery was
far worse than the Irish coinmed, so that it came at
last to be forbidden by the English law.
There was a numerous class of very poor unfree
tenants called fudirs, who were generally in a very
wretched condition. They were tenants at will,
having no right in their holdings. A fudir was com-
pletely at the mercy of his chief, who might turn
him off at any time, and who generally rackrented
him so as to leave barely enough for subsistence.
The ancient rights of the tenants, i.e. of the cedes
or freemen, were chiefly three : — A right to some
portion of the arable or tribe-land, and to the use of
the commons : a right to pay no more than a fair
rent, which, in the absence of express agreement,
was adjusted by theBrehon Law : a right to own
a house and homestead, and (with certain equitable
exceptions) all unexhausted improvements. Among
the freemen who held farm land there was no such
thing as eviction from house or farm, for there was
a universal conviction that the landlord was not the
absolute owner, so that all free tenants had what
was equivalent to fixity of tenure. If a man failed
to pay the subsidy to his chief, or the rent of land
held in any way, or the debt due for stock, it
was recovered, like any other debt, by the processes
described in next section, never by process of eviction.
Descent of Land.— In Ireland the land descended
in three different ways.
First, as private property.— When a man had
land understood to be his own, it would naturally
86 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
pass to his heirs ; or he might if he wished divide
it among them during his life — a thing that was
sometimes done.
Second. — The land held by the chief as mensal
estate descended, not to his heir, but to the person
who succeeded him in the chiefship. This is what
is known as descent by Tanistry.
Third, by Gavelkind. — When a tenant who held
a part of the tribe-land died, his farm did not go to
his children : but the whole of the land belonging to
the fine or sept was redivided or gavel\ed among all
the male adult members of the sept — including the
dead man's adult sons. The domain of the chief,
and all land that was private property, were exempt.
The redistribution by gavelkind on each occasion
extended to the clan or sept — not beyond. Davies
complains, with justice, that this custom prevented
the tenants from making permanent improvements.
The two customs of Tanistry and Gavelkind
formerly prevailed all over Europe, and continued in
Eussia till a very recent period : and Gavelkind, in a
modified form, still exists in Kent. They were
abolished and made illegal in Ireland in the reign of
James I. ; after which land descended to the next
heir according to English law.
6. The Administration of Justice.
The Law of Compensation. — In very early times,
beyond the reach of history, the law of retaliation
prevailed, as in most other countries — " an eye for
an eye, a tooth for a tooth " — in other words, every
man or every family that was injured might take
CHAP. IV.] THE BREHON LAWS. 87
direct revenge on the offender. But this being found
inconsistent with the peace and well-being of the
community — especially in cases of homicide, which
were frequent enough in those days — gradually gave
place to the law of compensation, which applied
to every form of injury. In Ireland the process was
this : — The injured party sued the offender in proper
form, and, if the latter responded, the case was
referred to the local brehon, who decided according
to law. The penalty always took the form of a fine
to be paid by the offender to the person or family
injured, and the brehon's fee was usually paid out of
this fine.
Procedure by Distress. — If the offender refused
to submit the case to the usual tribunal, or if he
withheld payment after the case had been decided
against him, or if a man refused to pay a just debt
of any kind — in any one of these cases the plaintiff
or the creditor proceeded by Distress ; that is to say,
he distrained or seized the cattle or other effects of
the defendant. We will suppose the effects to be
cattle. There was generally an anad or stay of one or
more days on the distress ; that is, the plaintiff went
through the form of seizing the cattle, but did not
remove them. During the stay the cattle remained
in the possession of the defendant or debtor, no doubt
to give him time to make up his mind as to what
course to take, viz. either to pay the debt or to have
the case tried before the brehon : but the plaintiff
had all the time a claim on them. If the debt was
not paid at the end of the lawful stay, the plaintiff, in
the presence of certain witnesses, removed the animals
and put them in a pound, the expense of feeding and
88 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
tending being paid out of the value of the cattle. If
the debtor persisted in refusing to settle the case, the
creditor sold or kept as many of the cattle as paid
the debt.
Procedure by Fasting. — In some cases before
distress was resorted to, a curious custom came into
play: — the plaintiff " fasted on" the defendant.
It was done in this way. The plaintiff, having
served due notice, went to the house of the de-
fendant, and, sitting before the door, remained there
without food ; and as long as he remained, the
defendant was also obliged to fast. It may be
inferred that the debtor generally yielded before the
fast was ended, i.e. either paid the debt or gave a
pledge that he would settle the case. This fasting
process — which exists still in India— was regarded
with a sort of superstitious awe ; and it was con-
sidered outrageously disgraceful for a defendant not
to submit to it. It is pretty evident that the man
who refused to abide by the custom, not only incurred
personal danger, but lost all character, and was sub-
ject to something like what we now call a universal
boycott, which in those days no man could bear.
He had in fact to fly and become a sort of outlaw.
Eric or Compensation Fine.— Homicide or bodily
injury of any kind was atoned for by a fine called Eric
[errick]. The injured person brought the offender
before a brehon, by whom the case was tried and the
exact amount of the eric was adjudged. Many
modifying circumstances had to be taken into ac-
count— the actual injury, the rank of the parties, the
intention of the wrong-doer, the provocation, the
amount of set-off claims, &c. — so that the settlement
CHAP. IV.] THE BREHON LAWS. 89
called for much legal knowledge, tact, and technical
skill on the part of the brehon — quite as much as we
expect in a lawyer of the present day.
In case of homicide the family of the victim were
entitled to the eric. If the culprit did not pay, or
absconded, leaving no property, his fine or family
were liable. If he refused to come before a brehon,
or if, after trial, the eric fine was not paid by him or
his family, then he might be lawfully killed. The
eric for bodily injury depended, to some extent, on
the "dignity" of the part injured: if it was the
forehead, or chin, or any other part of the face, the
eric was greater than if the injured part was covered
by raiment. Half the eric for homicide was due for
the loss of a leg, a hand, an eye, or an ear ; but in no
case was the collective eric for such injuries to exceed
the " body-fine" — i.e. the eric for homicide.
The principle of compensation for murder and for un-
intentional homicide existed among the Anglo-Saxons,
as well as among the ancient Greeks, Franks, and
Germans. In the laws of the English king Athelstan,
there is laid down a detailed scale of prices to be paid
in compensation for killing persons of various ranks
of society, from an archbishop or duke down to a
churl or farmer ; and traces of the custom remained
in English law till the early part of the last century.
Modes of Punishment. — There was no such thing
as a sentence of death passed by a brehon in a court
of law, no matter what the crime was : it was always
compensation ; and the brehon's business was to de-
termine the amount. Capital punishment was known
well enough, however, and practised, outside the courts
of law. Kings claimed the right to put persons to
90 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
death for certain crimes. Thus we are told, in the
Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, that neither gold nor
silver would be accepted from him who lighted a fire
before the lighting of the festival fire of Tara, but he
should be put to death ; and the death-penalty was
inflicted on anyone who, at a fair-meeting, killed
another or raised a serious quarrel. We have seen
that if for any cause homicide was not atoned for by
eric, then the criminal's life was forfeit.
Various modes of putting criminals to death were
in use in ancient Ireland. Sometimes they were
hanged. Sometimes the culprit was drowned by
being flung into water, either tied up in a sack or
with a heavy stone round his neck.
Where the death penalty was not inflicted for a
crime, various other modes of punishment were re-
sorted to, though never as the result of a judicial
process before a brehon. Blinding as a punishment
was very common, not only in Ireland but among
many other nations. A very singular punishment
was to send the culprit adrift on the open sea in a
boat, without sail, oar, or rudder ; as, for instance, in
case of homicide, if it was unintentional. A person
of this kind cast on shore belonged to the owner of
the shore until a cumal was paid for his release.
Courts of Justice. — Courts for the trial of legal
cases, as well as meetings of representative people to
settle local affairs, were often held in the open air
— sometimes on green little hills, and sometimes in
buildings. There was a gradation of courts, from the
lowest— something like our petty sessions — to the
highest, the great national assembly — whether at
Tara or elsewhere— representing all Ireland. Over
CHAP. IV.] THE BREHON LAWS. 91
each court a member of the chieftain or privileged
classes presided : the rank of the president cor-
responded to the rank of the court ; and his legal
status, duties, powers, and privileges were very
strictly defined. The over-king presided over the
National Feis or assembly.
In each court — besides the brehon who sat in
judgment — there were one or more professional
lawyers, advocates, or pleaders, called, in Cormac's
Glossary, ddlaighe [dawlee] and dait who conducted
the cases for their clients ; and the presiding brehon-
judge had to hear the pleadings for both sides before
coming to a decision. Whether the court was held
in a building or in the open air, there was a platform
of some kind on which the pleader stood while
addressing the court.
With regard to evidence, various rules were in
force, which may be gathered from detached passages
in the laws and general literature. In order to prove
home a matter of fact in a court of justice, at least
two witnesses were required. If a man gave evidence
against his wife, the wife was entitled to give evidence
in reply ; but a man's daughter would not be heard
against him in like circumstances. Any freeman
might give evidence against a fudir ; but the fudir
was not permitted to give evidence in reply. A
king's evidence was good against all other people,
with the three exceptions mentioned at page 23.
The period at which a young man could give legal
evidence was when he was seventeen years of age, or
when he began to grow a beard.
The Irish delighted in judgments delivered in the
form of a sententious maxim, or an apt illustration
92 GOVERNMENT, MILITARY SYSTEM, AND LAW. [PART I.
— some illustration bearing a striking resemblance
to the case in question. The jurist who decided a
case by the aid of such a parallel was recognised as
gifted with great judicial wisdom, and his judgment
often passed into a proverb. Several judgments of
this kind are recorded, of which one is given here.
When Cormac mac Art, the rightful heir to the
throne of Ireland, was a boy, he lived at Tara in
disguise ; for the throne was held by the usurper
Mac Con, so that Cormac dared not reveal his
identity. There was at this time living near Tara
a female breu-y, named Bennaid, whose sheep
trespassed on the royal domain, and ate up the
queen's valuable crop of glaisin [glasheen] or woad-
plants for dyeing. The queen instituted proceedings
for damages ; and the question came up for decision
before the king, who, after hearing the evidence,
decided that the sheep should be forfeit in payment
for the glaisin. " Not so," exclaimed the boy Cormac,
who was present, and who could not restrain his
judicial instincts: "the cropping of the sheep should
be sufficient for the cropping of the glaisin — the
wool for the woad — for both will grow again."
" That is a true judgment," exclaimed all : " and he
who has pronounced it is surely the son of a king" —
for kings were supposed to possess a kind of inspira-
tion in giving their decisions. And so they discovered
who Cormac was, and in a short time placed him on
the throne, after deposing the usurper.
PART II.
RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART.
Ornament on top of Devenish Round Tower. (From Petrie's Round Towers.)
CHAPTER V.
PAGANISM.
Section 1. Druids: their Functions and Pou
ers.
ruidism. — No trustworthy information
regarding the religion of the pagan
Irish comes to us from outside :
whatever knowledge of it we possess
is derived exclusively from the native
literature. There were many gods, but
no supreme god, like Zeus or Jupiter
among the Greeks and Romans. There was little
of prayer, and no settled general form of worship.
There were no temples : but there were altars of
some kind erected to idols or to the gods of the
elements (the sun, fire, water, &c), which must have
been in the open air. The religion of the pagan Irish
is commonly designated as Druidism : and in the
oldest Irish traditions the druids figure conspicuously.
All the early colonists had their druids, who are.
mentioned as holding high rank among kings and
chiefs. There were druids also in Gaul and Britain ;
but the Gaels of Ireland and Scotland were separated
and isolated for many centuries from the Celtic races
of Gaul ; and thus their religious system, like their
96 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
language, naturally diverged, so that the druidism
of Ireland, as pictured forth in the native records,
differed in many respects from that of Gaul.
In pagan times the druids were the exclusive
possessors of whatever learning was then known.
They combined in themselves all the learned pro-
fessions : they were not only druids, but judges,
prophets, historians, poets, and even physicians.
There were druids in every part of Ireland, but, as
we might expect, Tara, the residence of the over-
kings of Ireland, was, as we are told in the Life of
St. Patrick, '• the chief seat of the idolatry and
druidism of Erin." The druids had the reputation of
being great magicians ; and in this character they
figure more frequently and conspicuously than in any
other. In some of the old historical romances we find
the issues of battles sometimes determined not so
much by the valour of the combatants as by the
magical powers of the druids attached to the armies.
Perhaps the most dreaded of all the necromantic
powers attributed to them was that of producing
madness. In the pagan ages, and down far into
Christian times, madness was believed to be often
brought on by malignant magical agency, usually
the work of some druid. For this purpose the druid
prepared a "madman's wisp," that is, a little wisp
of straw or grass, into* which he pronounced some
horrible incantations, and, watching his opportunity,
flung it into the face of his victim, who at once
became insane or idiotic.
Madness was often produced by the rage of battle.
For, during a bloody battle, it sometimes happened
that an excitable combatant ran mad with fury and
CHAP. V.] PAGANISM. 97
horror : and occurrences of this kind are recorded in
the romantic accounts of nearly all the great battles
fought in Ireland. There was a most curious belief
— a belief that still lingers in some parts of the
country — that during the paroxysm a madman's body
became as light as air, so that as he ran distractedly,
he scarcely touched the ground, or he rose into the
air, still speeding on with a sort of fluttering motion.
There is a valley in Kerry called Glannagalt, ' the
glen of the gaits or lunatics': and it is believed that
all lunatics, if left to themselves, would find their
way to it, no matter from what part of Ireland.
When they have lived in its solitude for a time,
drinking of the water of Tobernagalt (' the lunatics'
well'), and eating of the cresses that grow along the
little stream, the poor wanderers get restored to
sanity. At the entrance to Lough Foyle, on the
strand near Inishowen Head in Donegal, there is
a well called Stroove Bran, which was thought to
possess the same virtue as Tobernagalt, and to which
all the deranged people in the surrounding district
were wont to resort.
It was believed that the druids could pronounce a
malign incantation, not only on an individual, but
on a whole army, so as to produce a withering or
enervating effect on the men ; and they were some-
times employed to maledict a hostile army, as Balaam
was employed by Balak. They could give a drink of
forgetf ulness, so as to efface the memory of any
particular transaction. They were the intermediaries
with the fairies, and with the invisible world in gene-
ral, which — as they asserted — they could influence for
good or evil ; and they could protect people from the
98 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
malice of evil-disposed spirits of every kind ; which
explains much of their influence with the people.
They could — as the legends tell — bring on snow-
storms, or showers of fire and blood, and cover the
land with blinding clouds and mists.
Divination. — An important function of the druid
was divination — forecasting future events — which was
practised by the pagan Irish — like the Greeks and
Komans — in connexion with almost all important
affairs, such as military expeditions. Laegaire's
druids foretold the coming of St. Patrick. The
druids forecasted, partly by observation of natural
objects or occurrences, and partly by certain artificial
rites : and in the exercise of this function the druid
was a faith [faw] or prophet.
They drew auguries from observation of the clouds,
and of the heavenly bodies ; and for purposes of
divination they often used a rod of yew with Ogham
words cut on it. They professed to be able to find
out the lucky or unlucky days, and the period of
suitable weather for beginning any business or enter-
prise, and to discern the future in general, from the
voices of birds, from sneezing, and from the inter-
pretation of dreams.
Divination by the voices of birds was very generally
practised, especially from the croaking of the raven
and the chirping of the wren : and the very syllables
they utter, and their interpretation, are given in the
old books. The wren in particular was considered so
great a prophet that, in an old Life of St. Moling,
one of its Irish names, drean, is fancifully derived
from drui-en, meaning the * druid of birds.' When
St. Kellach, Bishop of Killala, was about to be
CHAP. V.] PAGANISM. 99
murdered, the raven croaked, and the grey-coated
scallcrow called, the wise little wren twittered .
ominously, and- the kite, of Cloon-0 sat on his yew-
tree waiting patiently to carry off his talons-full of the
victim's flesh. But when, after the deed had been
perpetrated, the birds of prey came scrambling for
their shares, everyone that ate the least morsel of
the saint's flesh dropped down dead. The Welsh
birds of prey knew better when they saw the bodies
of the slaughtered druids : —
" Far, far aloof th' affrighted ravens sail ;
The famished eagle screams, and passes hy."
The Bard: by Gray.
Just before the attack by Ingcel and his band of
pirates on Da Derga's Hostel, the howl of Ossar,
King Conari's messan or lapdog, portended the coming
of battle and slaughter. The clapping of hands was
used in some way as an omen; and also an examina-
tion of the shape of a crooked, knotted tree-root.
Sometimes animals were sacrificed as part of the
ceremony. In the performance of these and of all
other important functions, the druids wore long
white robes ; like the Gaulish druid, who, as Pliny
states, wore a white robe when cutting the mistletoe
from the oak with a knife of gold.
Trees reverenced. — We know that the Gaulish
druids regarded the oak, especially when mistletoe
grew on it, with much religious veneration ; but I
cannot find that the Irish druids had any special
veneration for the oak : although, like other trees, it
occasionally figures in curious pagan rites. The
mistletoe is not a native Irish plant : it was intro-
h2
100 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
duced some time in the last century. The statement
we so often see put forward that the Irish druids held
their religious meetings, and performed their solemn
rites, under the sacred shade of the oak, is pure
invention. But they attributed certain druidical or
fairy virtues to the yew, the hazel, and the quicken or
rowan-tree — especially the last — and employed them
in many of their superstitious ceremonials. We have
already seen that yew-rods were used in divination.
On some occasions, witches or druids, or malignant
phantoms, cooked flesh — sometimes the flesh of dogs
or horses — on quicken-tree spits, as part of a dia-
bolical rite for the destruction of some person
obnoxious to them.
Druids as Teachers and Counsellors. — A most
important function of the druids was that of teaching :
they were employed to educate the children of kings
and chiefs— they were indeed the only educators ;
which greatly added to their influence. The chief
druid of a king held a very influential position : he
was the king's confidential adviser on important
affairs. When King Concobar mac Nessa contem-
plated avenging the foray of Queen Maive, he sought
and followed the advice of his " right illustrious "
druid Cathbad as to the time and manner of the pro-
jected expedition. And on St. Patrick's visit to Tara,
King Laegaire's proceedings were regulated by the
advice of his two chief druids Lucetmail and Lochru.
Druidesses. — The ancient Irish had druidesses
also, like their relatives the Gauls. A druidess was
called a ban-drui [ban-dree], i.e. a 'woman druid':
and many individual druidesses figure in the ancient
writings. Amongst the dangers that St. Patrick (in
CHAP. V.] PAGANISM. 101
his Hyrun) asks God to protect him from are " the
spells of women, and smiths, and druids," where
the " women " are evidently druidesses. In one of
St. Patrick's canons, kings are warned to give no
countenance to magi (i.e. 'druids'), ox pythonesses, or
augurers, in which it is obvious from the context that
the pythonesses were druidesses. The Greek word
1 pythoness,' which corresponds to the Irish ban-drui.
was the name of the priestesses of the oracle of
Apollo at Delphi.
2. Points of Agreement and Difference between Irish
and Gaulish Druids.
Chief Points of Agreement. — 1. They had
the same Celtic name in both countries : ' Druid.'
2. They were all wizards — magicians and diviners.
3. They were the only learned men of the time : they
were judges, poets, professors of learning in general.
4. They were teachers, especially of the children of
kings and chiefs. 5. Their disciples underwent a
long course of training, during which they got by
heart great numbers of verses. 6. They were the
king's chief advisers : they were very influential, and
held in great respect, often taking precedence even of
the kings. 7. Among both the Irish and Gauls there
were druidesses. 8. They had a number of gods ;
and many of the Irish gods were identical, both in
names and chief functions, with those of Gaul.
Chief Points of Difference.— 1. The Gaulish
druids were under one head druid, with supreme
authority : and they held periodical councils or
synods. There was no such institution in Ireland :
102 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
though there were eminent druids in various districts,
with the influence usually accorded to eminence.
2. The Gaulish druids held the doctrine of the im-
mortality of the soul, as applying to all mankind: the
soul of every human being passing, after death, into
other bodies, i.e. of men, not of the lower animals.
There is no evidence that the Irish druids held the
souls of all men to be immortal. But in case of a
few individuals — palpably exceptional — it is related
that they lived on after death, some reappearing as
other men, some as animals of various kinds, and a
few lived on in Fairyland, without the intervention of
death. 3. Human sacrifice was part of the rite of
the Gaulish druids, sometimes an individual being
sacrificed and slain : sometimes great numbers to-
gether. There is no record of any human sacrifice in
connexion with the Irish druids : and there are good
grounds for believing that direct human sacrifice was
not practised at all in Ireland. 4. The Gaulish
druids prohibited their disciples from committing to
writing any part of their lore, regarding this as
an unhallowed practice. There is no mention of any
such prohibition among Irish druids. 5. The
Gaulish druids revered the oak, and the mistletoe
when growing on it : the Irish druids revered the
yew, the hazel, and the quicken-tree or rowan-tree.
3. Sorcerers and Sorcery.
11 One foot, one hand, one eye." — Spells of
several kinds are often mentioned in our ancient
writings, as practised by various people, not specially
or solely by druids. But all such rites and incanta-
CHAP. V.] PAGANISM. 103
tions, by whomsoever performed — magical practices
of every kind — had their origin in druidism. Usually
while practising his spell, the sorcerer was " on one
foot, one hand, and one eye," which, I suppose,
means, standing on one foot, with one arm out-
stretched,, and with one eye shut. While in this
posture, he uttered, in a loud voice, a kind of incan-
tation or curse, called gldm dichenn, commonly ex-
tempore, which was intended to inflict injury on
the maledicted person or persons. There are many
notices of the exercise, by druids or others, of this
necromantic function ; and a similar posture was often
adopted in other ceremonies besides the gldm dichenn.
Celtar: Fe-fiada. — The druids and other 'men
of might ' could make a magic mantle that rendered
its wearer invisible : called a celtar [keltar].
In an Irish version of the Aeneid, the writer, fol-
lowing his own native Irish legend, tells us that
when Venus was guiding Aeneas and his companions
to Dido's city, she put a "celtar" round them, so
that they wTent unseen by the hosts till they arrived
within the city : just as Athene threw a mist of
invisibility round Ulysses as he entered the city of
the Phaeacians.
Druids and others could raise or produce a Fe-
fiada, which rendered people invisible. The accounts
that have reached us of this Fe-fiada are very con-
fused and obscure. Sometimes it appears to be a
poetical incantation, which rendered the person that
repeated it invisible. Often it is a mantle: occa-
sionally a ' magic fog,' or a spell that hid natural
objects — such an object as a well — and that might
be removed by Christian influences. Every shee or
104 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
fairy palace had a Fe-fiada round it, which shut it
out from mortal vision. At the Battle of Clontarf
(1014), the banshee Eevin gave the Dalcassian hero
Dunlang O'Hartigan a fe-fiada or mantle, which, so
long as he wore it, made him invisible, and pro-
tected him from harm during the battle ; but when
he threw it off, he was slain. *
4. Mythology : Gods, Goblins, and Phantoms.
Gods in general.— In the Irish language there
are several names for God in general, without re-
ference to any particular god. The most general
is dia, which, with some variations in spelling, is
common to many of the Aryan languages. It was
used in pagan as well as in Christian times, and
is the Irish word in universal use at the present
day for God. In Irish literature, both lay and
ecclesiastical, we sometimes find vague references
to the pagan gods, without any hint as to their
identity or functions. The ' gods ' are often re-
ferred to in oaths and asseverations : and such
expressions as " I swear by the gods that my people
swear by " are constantly put into the mouths of
the heroes of the Red Branch.
Individual Gods. — But we have a number of
individual gods of very distinct personality who
figure in the romantic literature, some beneficent
and some evil. The names of many of them have
been identified with those of ancient Gaulish gods —
a thing that might be anticipated, inasmuch as the
* See the episode of Eevin and Dunlang O'Hartigan at the
Battle of Clontarf in my Short History of Ireland.
CHAP. V.]
PAGANISM.
105
Gaelic people of Ireland and Scotland are a branch
of the Celts or Gauls of the Continent, and brought
with them, at their separation from the main stock,
the language, the traditions, and the mythology of
their original home.
Shee or Fairies and their Dwellings.— The
pagan Irish worshipped the side [shee], i.e. the earth-
gods, or fairies, or elves. These side are closely
Fig. 32.
A fairy hill: an earthen mound at Highwood, near Lough Arrow, in Co. Sligo.
mixed up with the mythical race called Dedannans,
to whom the great majority of the fairy gods be-
longed. According to our bardic chroniclers the
Dedannans were the fourth of the prehistoric colo-
nies that arrived in Ireland many centuries before
the Christian era. They were great magicians, and
were highly skilled in science and metal-working.
After inhabiting Ireland for about two hundred
years, they were conquered by the people of the
fifth and last colony — the Milesians. They then
106 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
arranged that the several chiefs, with their followers,
were to take up their residence in the pleasant hills
all over the country — the side [shee] or elf-mounds
— where they could live free from observation or
molestation ; and Bodb Derg [Bove Derg] was
chosen as their king. Deep under ground in these
abodes they built themselves glorious palaces, all
ablaze with light, and glittering with gems and gold.
Sometimes their fairy palaces were situated under
wells or lakes, or under the sea.
From what has been said it will be observed that
the word side is applied to the fairies themselves as
well as to their abodes. And shee, as meaning a
fairy, is perfectly understood still. When you see a
little whirl of dust moving along the road on a fine
calm day, that is called shee-geeha, ' wind-fairies,'
travelling from one lis or elf-mound to another.
The ideas prevalent in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh
centuries, as to what the people's beliefs were, regard-
ing the fairies before the time of St. Patrick, are
well set forth in the concluding paragraph of the
tale of " The Sick Bed of Ouculainn " in the Book
of the Dun Cow: — " For the demoniac power was
great before the faith : and such was its greatness
that the demons used to tempt the people, and they
used to show them delights and secrets, and how
they might become immortal. And it was to these
phantoms the ignorant used to apply the name side."
Numbers of fairy hills and sepulchral earns are
scattered over the country, each with a bright palace
deep underneath, ruled by its own chief, the tutelary
deity. They are still regarded as fairy haunts, and
are held in much superstitious awe by the peasantry.
CHAP. V.] PAGANISM. 107
The fairies possessed great preternatural powers.
They could make themselves invisible to some persons
standing by, while visible to others : as Pallas showed
herself to Achilles, while remaining invisible to the
other Greeks (Iliad, i.). But their powers were ex-
ercised much often er for evil than for good. They
were consequently dreaded rather than loved ; and
whatever worship or respect was paid to them was
mainly intended to avert mischief. It is in this
sense that they are now often called ' Good people.'
' v. * •"*■-•->:■• ■-.•V • - ji"1, •
Fig. 33.
Fairy moat at Patrickstown, near Oldcastle, County M-eath.
(From Journ. Roy. Soc. Antiqq. Irel., 1898.)
They could wither up the crops over a whole district,
or strike cattle with disease. To this day the
peasantry have a lurking belief that cattle and
human beings who interfere with the haunted old
lisses or forts, are often fairy-struck, which brings on
paralysis or other dangerous illness, or death.
Manannan mac Lir, whose epithet Mac Lir
signifies ' Son of the Sea,' was the Irish sea-god.
He is usually represented in the old tales as riding
on the sea, in a chariot, at the head of his followers.
When Bran the son of Febal had been at sea two
days and two nights, " he saw a man in a chariot
108 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
coming towards him over the sea," who turns out to
be Manannan mac Lir, and who, as he passed, spoke
in verse, and said that the sea to him was a beautiful
flowery plain : —
" What is a clear sea
For the plowed skiff in which Bran is,
That is to me a happy plain with profusion of flowers,
[Looking] from the chariot of two wheels."
Manannan is still vividly remembered in some
parts of Ireland. He is in his glory on a stormy
night : and on such a night, when you look over the
sea, there before your eyes, in the dim gloom, are
thousands of Manannan's white-maned steeds, career-
ing along after the great chief's chariot. According
to an oral tradition, prevalent in the Isle of Man and
in the eastern counties of Leinster (brought from
Leinster to Man by the early emigrants : p. 36, supra),
Manannan had three legs, on which he rolled along
on land, wheel-like, always surrounded by a ' magic
mist' : and this is the origin of the three-legged figure
on the Manx halfpenny.
The Dadga was a powerful and beneficent god,
who ruled as king over Ireland for eighty years.
Bodb Derg [Bove-Derg], the Dedannan fairy
king, son of the Dagda, had his residence— called
Side Buidb [Shee Boov]— on the shore of Lough
Derg, somewhere near Portumna.
Aengus Mac-in-Og [Oge], another son of the
Dagda, was a mighty magician, whose splendid
palace at 'Brugh of the Boyne' was within the
great sepulchral mound of Newgrange, near
Drogheda.
CHAP. V.] PAGANISM. 109
Brigit, daughter of the Dagda, was the goddess of
Poets, of Poetry, and of Wisdom. She had two
sisters, also called Brigit : one was the goddess of
medicine and medical doctors ; the other the goddess
of smiths and smithwork.
Ana, also called Dana or Danann, was the mother
of three of the Dedannan gods, whom she nursed
and suckled so well that her name ' Ana ' came to
signify plenty ; and from her the Dedannans derived
their name : — Tuatha De Danann, l the tuatha
[Thooha] or tribes of the goddess Dana.' She was
worshipped in Munster as the goddess of plenty :
and the name and nutritive function of this goddess
are prominently commemorated in the ' Two Paps of
Danann,' a name given to two beautiful adjacent
conical mountains near Killarney, which to this day
are well known by the name of ' the Paps.'
But there were other fairy chiefs besides those of
the Dedannans : and some renowned shees belonged
to Milesian princes, who became deified in imitation
of their fairy predecessors. For instance, the Shee
of Aed-Ruad [Ai-Koo] at Ballyshannon in Donegal.
Our ancient books relate that this Aed Buad, or Red
Hugh, a Milesian chief, the father of Macha, founder
of Emain, was drowned in the cataract at Bally-
shannon, which was thence called after him Eas-
Aeda-Ruaid [Ass-ai-roo], ' Aed-Ruad's Waterfall ' :
now shortened to ' Assaroe.' He was buried over
the cataract, in the mound which was called from
him Sid-Aeda — a name still partly preserved in
Mullaghshee, ' the hill of the shee or fairy-palace.'
This hill has recently been found to contain sub-
terranean chambers, which confirms our ancient
110 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
legendary accounts, and shows that it is a great
sepulchral mound like those on the Boyne. How
few of the people of Ballyshannon know that the
familiar name Mullaghshee is a living memorial of
those dim ages when Aed Ruad held sway, and that
the great king himself has slept here in his dome-
roofed dwelling for two thousand years.
Another Milesian chief, Donn, son of Milesius,
was drowned in the magic storm raised by the spells
of the Dedannans when the eight brothers came to
invade Ireland. But for him it was only changing
an earthly mode of existence for a much pleasanter
one in his airy palace on the top of Knockfierna,
as the renowned king of the fairies : and here he
ruled over all the great Limerick plain around the
mountain, where many legends of him still linger
among the peasantry.
A male fairy was a fey-side (fer, < a man ') : a female
fairy, a ben-side or banshee, i.e. ' a woman from the
fairy-hills.' Several fairy-hills were ruled by banshees
as fairy queens. The banshee who presided as queen
of the palace on the summit of Knockainy hill, in
county Limerick, was Aine [2-syll.], daughter of a
Dedannan chief, who gave her name to the hill, and
to the existing village of Knockainy.
Two other banshees, still more renowned, were
Clidna [Cleena] of Carrigcleena, and Aebinn or
Aibell [Eevin, Eevil] of Craglea. Cleena is the
potent banshee that rules as queen over the fairies of
South Munster. In the Dinnsenchus there is an
ancient and pathetic story about her, wherein it is
related that she was a foreigner from Fairy-land,
who, coming to Ireland, was drowned while sleeping
CHAP. \\] PAGANISM. Ill
on the strand at the harbour of Glandore in South
Cork. In this harbour the sea, at certain times,
utters a very peculiar, deep, hollow, and melancholy
roar, among the caverns of the cliffs, which was
formerly believed to foretell the death of a king of
the south of Ireland. This surge has been from
time immemorial called Tonn-Cleenay 'Cleena's wave.'
Cleena lived on, however, as a fairy. She had her
palace in the heart of a pile of rocks, five miles from
Mallow, which is still well known by the name of
Carrig-Cleena : and numerous legends about her
are told among the Munster peasantry. Aebinn or
Aibell, whose name signifies ' beautiful,' presided
over North Munster, and was in an especial manner
the guardian spirit of the Dalcassians or O'Briens.
She had her palace two miles north of Killaloe, in a
rock called Crageevil, but better known by the name
of Craglea, 'grey rock.' The rock is situated in a
silent glen, under the face of a mountain : and the
people affirm that she forsook her retreat when the
woods which once covered the place were cut down.
The old fort under which the banshee Grian of
the Bright Cheeks had her dwelling still remains on
the top of Pallas Grean hill in the county Limerick.
One of the most noted of the fairy-palaces is on the
top of Slievenamon in Tipperary. But to enumerate
all the fairy-hills of Ireland, and relate fully the
history of their presiding gods and goddesses, and
the superstitious beliefs among the people regarding
them, would occupy a good-sized volume.
In modern times the word < banshee ' has become
narrowed in its meaning, and signifies a female spirit
that attends certain families, and is heard keening or
112 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
crying at night round the house when some member
is about to die. At the present day almost all raths,
cashels, and mounds — the dwellings, forts, and
sepulchres of the Firbolgs and Milesians, as well
as those of the Dedannans — are considered as fairy
haunts.
Shees open at Samain. — On Samain Eve, the
night before the 1st of November, or, as it is now
called, All Hallows Night, or Hallowe'en, all the fairy-
hills were thrown wide open ; for the Fe -fiada was
taken off. While they remained open that night, any
mortals who were bold enough to venture near might
get a peep into them. No sooner was the Fe- fiada
lifted off than the inmates issued forth, and roamed
where they pleased all over the country : so that
people usually kept within doors, naturally enough
afraid to go forth. From the cave of Cruachan or
Croghan in Connaught issued probably the most
terrific of all those spectre hosts ; for immediately
that darkness had closed in on Samain Eve, a crowd
of horrible goblins rushed out, and among them a
flock of copper-red birds, led by one monstrous three-
headed vulture : and their poisonous breath withered
up everything it touched : so that this cave came to
be called the ' Hell-gate of Ireland.' That same hell-
gate cave is there still, but the demons are all gone —
scared away, no doubt, by the voices of the Christian
bells. The superstition that the fairies are abroad
on Samain Night exists at the present day, both in
Ireland and in Scotland.
There were war-goddesses or battle -furies, who
were usually called by the names Morrigan [more-
reean] and Badb [Baub or Bauv] : all malignant
CHAP. V.] PAGANISM. 113
beings, delighting in battle and slaughter. The Badb
often showed herself in battle in the form of zfennog,
i.e. a scallcrow, or royston crow, or carrion crow,
fluttering over the heads of the combatants.
The Badb or JMorrigan, sometimes as a bird, and
sometimes as a loathsome-looking hag, figures in all
the ancient battles, down even to the Battle of Clon-
tarf (a.d. 1014). In the midst of the din and horror
she was often seen busily flitting about through the
battle-cloud overhead : and sometimes she appeared
before battle in anticipation of slaughter. Just
before the Battle of Moyrath (a.d. 637), the grey-
haired Morrigan, in the form of a lean, nimble hag,
was seen hovering and hopping about on the points
of the spears and shields of the royal army who were
victorious in the great battle that followed. Before
the Destruction of Bruclen Da Choca, the Badb
showed herself as " a big-mouthed, swarthy, swift,
sooty woman, lame, and squinting with her left eye."
" Neit," says Cormac's Glossary, "was the god of
battle with the pagans of the Gael : Nemon was his
wife." They were malignant beings: — "Both are
bad: a venomous couple, truly, were they," says
Cormac.
The Badbs were not the only war -goblins. There
was a class of phantoms that sometimes appeared
before battles, bent on mischief. Before the Battle
of Moylena (second century), three repulsive-looking
witch-hags with blue beards appeared before the
armies, hoarsely shrieking victory for Conn the
Hundred Fighter, and defeat and death for the rival
King Eoghan. Before the Banquet of Dun-nan-ged,
two horrible black spectral beings, a man and a
114 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
woman, came to the assembly, and having devoured
an enormous quantity of food, cursed the banquet,
after which they rushed out and vanished. But they
left their baleful trail : for at that feast there arose
a deadly quarrel which led to the Battle of Moyrath
(a.d. 637).
In many remote, lonely glens there dwelt certain
fierce apparitions — females — called Geniti-glinni,
■ genii or sprites of the valley,' and others called
Bocanaclis (male goblins), and Bananachs (females) :
often in company with Demna aeir or ' demons of the
air.' At any terrible bat tie -crisis, many or all of
these, with the other war-furies described above,
were heard shrieking and howling with delight,
some in the midst of the carnage, some far off in
their lonely haunts.
In the story of the Feast of Bricriu, we are told
how the three great Red Branch champions,* Laegaire
the Victorious, Conall Cernach, and Cuculainn, con-
tended one time for the Curathmir, or • champion's
bit' (chap, xvii., sect. 1, infra), which was always
awarded to the bravest and mightiest hero ; and in
order to determine this matter, they were subjected
to various severe tests. On one of these occasions
the stern-minded old chief, Samera, who acted as
judge for the occasion, decided that the three heroes
separately should attack a colony of Geniti-glinni that
had their abode in a neighbouring valley. Laegaire
went first ; but they instantly fell on him with such
demoniac ferocity that he was glad to escape, half-
naked, leaving them his arms and battle-dress.
Conall Cernach went next, and he, too, had soon to
run for it ; but he fared somewhat better, for, though
CHAP. V.] PAGANISM. 115
leaving bis spear, he bore away bis sword. Lastly,
Cuculainn : and they filled bis ears with their hoarse
shrieks, and falling on him tooth and nail, they broke
his shield and spear, and tore his clothes to tatters.
At last he could bear it no longer, and showed plain
signs of running away. His faithful charioteer, Loeg,
was looking on. Now, one of Loeg's duties was,
whenever he saw his master about yielding in a fight,
to shower reproaches on him, so as to enrage him the
more. On this occasion he reviled him so vehemently
and bitterly for his weakness, and poured out such
contemptuous nicknames on him, that the hero
became infuriated ; and, turning on the goblins once
more, sword in hand, he crushed and hacked them to
pieces, so that the valley ran all red with their blood.
The class of fairies called siabra [sheevra], who
were also Dedannans — a sort of disreputable poor
relations of Manannan and the Dagda — were powerful,
demoniac, and dangerous elves. They are mentioned
in our earliest literature. To this day the name is
quite familiar among the people, even those who
speak only English : and they often call a crabbed
little boy — small for his age — a "little sheevra":
exactly as Concobar mac Nessa, nineteen centuries
ago, when he was displeased with the boy Cuculainn,
calls him a " little imp of a sheevra." The sheevras
were often incited by druids and others to do mischief
to mortals. In revenge for King Cormac mac Art's
leaning towards Christianity, the druids let loose
sheevras against him, who choked him with the bone
of a salmon, while he was eating his dinner.
The Leprechdn, as we now have him, is a little
fellow whose occupation is making shoes for the
i2
116 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
fairies ; and on moonlight nights you may sometimes
hear the tap-tap of his little hammer from where he
sits, working in some lonely nook among bushes. If
you can catch him, and keep your gaze fixed on him,
he will tell you, after some threatening, where to find
a crock of gold : but if you take your eyes off him for
an instant, he is gone. The leprechauns are an
ancient race in Ireland, for we find them mentioned
in some of our oldest tales. They could injure
mortals, but were not prone to do so except under
provocation. From the beginning they were of
diminutive size ; for example, as they are presented
to us in the ancient tale' of the Death of Fergus
macLeide, their stature might be about six inches.
In the same tale the king of the leprechauns was
taken captive by Fergus, and ransomed himself by
giving him a pair of magic shoes, which enabled him
to go under the water whenever, and for as long as,
he pleased : just as at the present day a leprechaun,
when you catch him — which is the difficulty — will
give you heaps of money for letting him go. No
doubt, the episode of the ransom by the magic shoes
in the old story is the original version of the present
superstition that the leprechaun is the fairies' shoe-
maker.
In modern times the Pooka has come to the front
as a leading Irish goblin : but I fear he is not native
Irish, as I do not find him mentioned in any ancient
Irish documents. He appears to have been an immi-
grant fairy, brought hither by the Danish settlers :
and is the same as the English Puck. But, like the
Anglo-Norman settlers, he had not long lived in this
country till he became " more Irish than the Irish
CHAP. V.] PAGANISM. 117
themselves." For an account of his shape, character,
and exploits, I must refer the reader to Crofton
Croker's " Fairy Legends," and to the first volume
of my " Origin and History of Irish Names of
Places."
When the Milesians landed in Ireland, they were
encountered by mysterious sights and sounds wher-
ever they went, through the subtle spells of the
Dedannans. As they climbed over the mountains of
Kerry, half-formed spectres flitted dimly before their
eyes : for Banba, the queen of one of the three
Dedannan princes who ruled the land, sent a swarm
of vieisi [misha], or 'phantoms,' which froze the
blood of the invaders with terror : and the mountain
range of Slieve Mish, near Tralee, still retains the
name of those apparitions.
According to another account, Ireland, before the
arrival of St. Patrick, was plagued with multitudes
of reptiles and demons. " These venomous and
monstrous creatures — the reptiles — used to rise out of
the earth and sea, and they wounded both men and
animals with their deadly stings, and not seldom
rent and devoured their members." " The demons
used to show themselves unto their worshippers in
visible forms : they often attacked the people, and
they were seen flying in the air and walking on the
earth, loathsome and horrible to behold."
What with Dedannan gods, with war-gods and
goddesses, apparitions, demons, sprites of the valley,
ordinary ghosts, spectres, goblins, and demoniac
reptiles, fairies of various kinds — sheevras, lepre-
chauns, banshees, and so forth — there appears to
have been, in those old pagan days, quite as numerous
118 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
a population belonging to the spiritual world as of
human beings ; so that Ireland was then an eerie
place to live in : and it was high time for St. Patrick
to come.
5. Worship of Idols.
Idols were very generally worshipped. The
earliest authentic document that mentions idols is
St. Patrick's " Confession," in which the great
apostle himself speaks of some of the Scots (i.e.
Irish) who, up to that time, "had worshipped only
idols and abominations." Elsewhere in the same
document, as well as in many other ancient authori-
ties, the practice of idol-worship is mentioned as a
thing well known among the Irish ; and the destruc-
tion of many idols in various parts of the country
was an important part of St. Patrick's life-work.
There was a great idol called Cromm Cruach,
covered all over with gold and silver, in Magh Slecht
(the 'Plain of Prostrations '), near the present village
of Ballymagauran, in the County Cavan, surrounded
by twelve lesser idols; covered with brass or bronze.
In our most ancient books Cromm Cruach is men-
tioned as the chief idol of the whole country, and as
being " until the coming of Patrick, the god of every
folk that colonised Ireland." In a very old legend,
found in the Dinnsenchus in the Book of Leinster,
it is related that many centuries before the Christian
era, King Tigernmas [Teernmas] and crowds of his
people were destroyed in some mysterious way, as
they were worshipping it on Samain Eve — the eve of
the 1st November. In the main facts regarding
Cromm Cruach, the secular literature is corroborated
CHAP. V.] PAGANISM. 119
by the Lives of St. Patrick. In the Tripartite Life
it is stated that this idol was adored by King
Laegaire, and by many others ; and that Patrick,
setting out from Granard, went straight to Magh
Slecht, and overthrew the whole thirteen. They
were all pillar- stones : and the remains of them were
in Magh Slecht at the time of the compilation of the
Tripartite Life (eighth to tenth century) : for it states
that they were then to be seen, buried up to their
heads in the earth, as Patrick had left them.
In the Dinnsenchus it is stated that, down to the
time of St. Patrick, the Irish killed their children in
sacrifice to Cromm Cruach in order to obtain from
him plenty of milk, corn, and honey. But this state-
ment is not supported by any other authority, though
Cromm Cruach is mentioned often enough : it stands
quite alone. In such an important matter the
Dinnsenchus is not a sufficient authority, for it is
a comparatively late document, and the stories in
it, of which this is one, are nearly all fabulous
— invented to account for the names. Besides,
St. Patrick knew all about this idol ; and if children
were sacrificed to it down to his time, it would be
mentioned in some of the numerous Lives of him.
It may then be taken as certain that the Dinnsenchus
statement is a pure invention, and that this horrid
custom of direct human sacrifice to idols or gods,
though practised by the Gauls, never reached
Ireland.
As Cromm Cruach was the " king-idol" of all
Ireland, there was a special idol-god, named Eermand
Kelstach, that presided over Ulster. This stone-idol
was still preserved as a curiosity in the porch of the
120 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
cathedral of Clogber down to the time of the annalist
Cathal Maguire (died 1498), as he himself tells us.
Pillar-stones were worshipped in other parts of
Ireland as well as at Moy-Slecht and Clogher. The
Dinnsenchus, after speaking of Cromm Cruach and
the other twelve, remarks that from the time of
Heremon to the coming of the good Patrick of
Armagh, there was adoration of pillar-stones fn
Ireland : a statement which we find also in other old
authorities. In the Brehon Laws, one of the objects
used for marking the boundaries of land is stated to
be " a stone of worship." This interesting record at
once connects the Irish custom with the Roman
worship of the god Terminus, which god was merely
a pillar-stone placed standing in the ground to mark
the boundary of two adjacent properties — exactly as
in Ireland. Even to this day some of these old idols
or oracle -stones are known ; and the memory of the
rites performed at them is preserved in popular
legend.
The Irish — like the Scottish Highlanders — had an
idol called Bel [Bail], whose worship was celebrated
with fire-ceremonies. There was a great meeting
held at Ushnagh (in present Co. Westmeath) every
year on the 1st May, when two fires were kindled in
Bel's name, with solemn incantations, by the druids ;
and cattle were driven between the fires to protect
them against the diseases of the coming year. On
this occasion, moreover, the young of cattle were
offered to the idol. These pagan ceremonies were
practised on May Day, all through Ireland, in imita-
tion of those at Ushnagh, and were continued down
to late times.
CHAP. V.] PAGANISM. 121
We know, from Scriptural as well as from other
authorities, that the Phoenicians had an idol-god
named Baal or Bel, which they worshipped with
great fire-ceremonies, and which they introduced to all
the surrounding nations. Seeing that Ireland was
well known to the Phoenicians, that the Irish god
Bel is identical in name with the Phoenician god, and
was worshipped with the same fire-ceremonies, it is
obvious — though we have no direct authoritative
statement on the point — that the Irish derived the
name and worship of their god Bel — either directly
or indirectly — from the Phoenicians.
The Irish, like the Continental nations of the
Middle Ages, paid great reverence to their arms,
especially swords, amounting sometimes to down-
right worship, which accounts for the custom of
swearing by them. This oath, which was very usual
in Ireland, was quite as binding as that by the
elements. The reason is given in " The Sick Bed of
Cuculainn": — ''Because demons were accustomed
to speak to them from their arms ; and hence it was
that an oath by their arms was inviolable."
6. Worship of the Elements.
Elemental Worship in General.— In the Lives
of the saints and other ecclesiastical writings, as well
as in the lay literature, we have ample evidence
that various natural objects were worshipped by the
ancient Irish. But this worship was only partial,
confined to individuals or to the people of certain
districts, each individual or family or group having
some special favourite object. We have no record of
122 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
the universal worship of any element. There is reason
to believe that it was not the mere material object
they worshipped, but a spirit or genius supposed to
dwell in it : for the Celts of Ireland peopled almost
all remarkable natural objects with preternatural
beings.
Wells. — The worship of water, as represented
in wells, is often mentioned. The Tripartite Life,
and Tirechan, in the Book of Armagh, relate that
St. Patrick, in his journey through Connaught, came
to a well called Sldn, which the heathens worshipped
as a god, believing that a certain 'prophet' had
caused himself to be buried under it in a stone coffin
to keep his bones cool from fire that he dreaded ; for
" he adored water as a god, but hated fire as an evil
being." This prophet was of course a druid. More
than a century later, in the time of St. Columba, as
will be found mentioned in next chapter, there was
a well in Scotland which the pagan people "wor-
shipped as a divinity." These healing wells were
generally called by the appropriate name of Sldn
[slaun], which means ' healing.' It is to be ob-
served that well-worship was not peculiar to Ireland :
at one time it prevailed all over Europe.
The Sun. — That the sun was worshipped in
Ireland — at least partially, like some other natural
objects — is made certain by several passages in our
ancient literature. St. Patrick plainly intimates this
when he says in his Confession — speaking of the Irish
— that all who adore the sun shall perish eternally.
This is a contemporary statement : for the saint is
evidently denouncing a practice existing in his own
time. We have a more specific account in Cormac's
CHAP. V.]
PAGANISM.
123
Glossary ; but this entry is four centuries later, and
records, not contemporary custom, but one existing
long before the time of the compilation of the
Glossary. It states that Indelba
(' Images ') was the name
applied to the altars of certain
idols : and that these altars
wece so called because "they
[the pagans] were wont to
carve on them the forms
(Irish, delba) of the elements
they adored : for example, the
figure of the sun." One of the
three last Dedannan kings of
Ireland, as we are told, was
named Mac Grena (' son or
devotee of the sun ') because
his god was the sun.
Fire. — That fire was worshipped by some of the
Irish appears from the statement in the Tripartite
Life that Laegaire's druid accused St. Patrick of
having fire for a god, which shows that the idea of
fire-worship was familiar. We have already seen
that fires were kindled by the druids at Ushnagh in
honour of the god Bel, and that fire played a promi-
nent part in certain pagan festivals. Many of these
fire-ceremonies — now quite harmless — have descended
to our own time, some signalising the 1st of May, and
some the eve of the 24th June, when the people light
open-air fires as soon as dusk comes on, so that the
whole country is illuminated.
Elemental Oath. — No doubt this ancient ele-
mental worship was the origin of the very general
Fig. 34.
Amulet, half the size of the
original, which is covered over
with a thin plate of gold,
beautifully ornamented : the
interior is of lead. In the
National Museum. (From
Wilde's Catalogue.)
124 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
pagan Irish custom of swearing by the elements, or,
in other words, giving the elements as guarantee :
an oath which it was believed very dangerous to
violate, as is shown by the fate of Laegaire, king of
Ireland in the time of St. Patrick. In an attempt
to exact the Boruma tribute from Leinster, he was
defeated and taken prisoner by the Leinstermen : but
was released on taking the usual oath, giving as
guarantee— i.e., swearing by — the " sun and moon,
water and air, day and night, sea and land," that he
would never again demand it. But in open violation
of his oath he invaded Leinster (a.d. 463) for this
same Tribute in less than two years : whereupon— as
the Four Masters express it — " the sun and wind
killed him because he had violated them " : " for" —
says an older authority, the Book of the Dun Cow —
" no one durst violate them at that time."
7. The Pagan Heaven and a Future State.
Names and Situations. — There was a belief
in a land of everlasting youth and peace, beautiful
beyond conception, and called by various names : —
Tir-nan-6g [Teernanogue], i.e., the 'Land of the
[ever-]youthful people ' : 1-Bresail, or 1-Brazil, the
' Land of Bresal ': Mag Mell [Moy Mell], the < Plain
of Pleasures ': and several others. Sometimes it is
described as situated far out in the Western Ocean :
sometimes it was deep down under the sea or under a
lake or well : sometimes it was in a hollow shee or
fairy-hill. The inhabitants were the side [shee] or
fairies, who were immortal, and who lived in perfect
peace and in a perpetual round of harmless pleasures.
CHAP. V.] PAGANISM. 125
But it was not for human beings, except a few in-
dividuals who were brought thither by the fairies, as
will be told below.
This pagan heaven legend did not escape the notice
of Giraldus Carnbrensis. He tells the story of the
Phantom Island, as he calls it, off the western coast,
and how, on one occasion when it appeared, some
men rowed out towards it, and shot a fiery arrow
against it, which fixed it. To this day the legend
remains as vivid as ever : and the people believe that
if they could succeed in throwing fire on it from their
boat, it would fix it, as happened before the time of
Giraldus.
Immortality of the Soul. — We know from classi-
cal writers that the ancient Gauls or Celts taught,
as one of their tenets, that the soul was immortal ;
and that after death it passed from one human body
to another : and this, it appears, applied to all human
beings. But in Irish literature I cannot find any-
thing to warrant the conclusion that the pagan Irish
believed that the souls of all men were immortal. A
few individuals became immortal in Fairyland, and
some other few lived on after death, appearing as
other men, or in the shapes of animals, as will be
presently related. But these are all palpable excep-
tions, and are put forward as such in the legends.
A few persons were brought by fairies to the happy
other world, and became immortal : and the time
passed there so obscurely and pleasantly that a whole
century appeared only the length of a year or so.
Once a person got to Fairyland he could never re-
turn, except, indeed, on a short visit, always in a
boat or on horseback, merely to take a look at his
126 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
native land : but if once he touched his mother earth,
the spell of youth and immortality was broken, and
he immediately felt the consequences. Bran, the son
of Febal, had been sailing with his crew among the
happy islands for hundreds of years, though they
thought it was only the length of an ordinary voyage.
When they returned to the coast of Kerry, one man
jumped ashore, against solemn warning, but fell down
instantly, and became a heap of ashes. Ossian, the
son of Finn, did not fare quite so badly when he
returned to Ireland riding an enchanted steed, after
his 300 years' sojourn in Tirnanoge, which he thought
only three years. Traversing his old haunts, the
wonder of all the strange people he met, for his size
and beauty, he on one occasion, in trying to lift a
great stone, overbalanced himself, and had to leap to
the ground, when he instantly became a withered,
bony, feeble old man, while his fairy steed galloped
off and never returned.*
Metempsychosis. — The foregoing observations re-
garding the pagan Irish notions of immortality after
death apply in a great measure to their ideas of
metempsychosis. In our romantic literature there
are legends of the re-birth of human beings : i.e,
certain persons, commonly heroes or demigods, were
re-born, and figured in the world, with new per-
sonality, name, and character. Thus Cuculainn was
a re-incarnation of the Dedannan hero-god, Lug of
the Long Arms. In other cases human beings, after
death, took the shapes of various animals in succession,
and re-appeared as human beings. Mongan of Rath-
* The whole story will be found in my Old Celtic Romances.
CHAP. V.] PAGANISM. 127
more Moylinny, king of Dalriada, in Ulster, in the
seventh century— a historical personage — was fabled
to be a re-incarnation of the great Finn mac Cumail
of the third century. This same Mongan went, after
death, into various shapes, a wolf, a stag, a salmon,
a seal, a swan; like the Welsh Taliessin. Fintan,
the nephew of Parthalon, survived the deluge, and
lived in the shapes of various animals successively
for many ages, after which he was re-incarnated in
the sixth century as a man named Tuan Mac Cairill.
This Tuan was a celebrated sage, and no wonder, for
he witnessed all the remarkable things that happened
in Ireland from the time of Parthalon, a lapse of
some thousands of years, and related everything to
St. Finnen of Magh Bile.
These stories are scattered, and have no thread of
connexion : they do not coalesce into a system : they
are told of individuals, in palpable exception to the
general run of people, and many of them are stated
to be the result of magical skill. There is no state-
ment anywhere that all persons were re-born as
human beings, or underwent transformations after
death. Stories of a similar kind are current among
most early nations. There are accordingly no grounds
whatever for asserting that the ancient Irish believed
in the doctrine of general metempsychosis ; and this
is also O'Curry's conclusion.
8. Turning ' Deisiol ,' or Sunwise.
The Celtic people were, and still are, accustomed
to turn sunwise — i.e. from left to right — in per-
forming certain rites ; and the word deisiol [deshil]
was used to designate this way of turning : from
128 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
cless, now deas, ' the right hand ' : dessel or deisiol,
1 right-hand-wise.' This custom is very ancient, and,
like many others, has descended from pagan to
Christian times. It was, indeed, quite as common
among the Christian people of Ireland as among the
pagans : and no wonder ; for the great apostle
Patrick, as well as several other eminent Irish saints,
showed them the example. For instance, St. Patrick
consecrated Armagh, as St. Senan did Scattery
Island, each by walking sunwise with his followers
in solemn procession round the site.
9. The Ordeal.
The use of the ordeal for determining truth or
falsehood, guilt or innocence, was developed from
prehistoric times in Ireland : but the germs were, no
doubt, brought hither by the earliest colonists. The
Irish had their own ordeals, in which were some
peculiarities not found among other nations of
Europe. Most originated in pagan times, but, as in
England and elsewhere, the ordeal continued in use
for many centuries after the general adoption of
Christianity.
In the Book of Ballymote there is a list and
description of twelve different kinds of ordeal used
by the ancient Irish. Among these were the fol-
lowing:— " Morann's Collar," of which the common
version of the legend is this : — The great brehon or
judge, Morann, had a collar, which, if placed round
his neck, or round the neck of any judge, contracted
on his throat if he delivered a false or unjust judg-
ment, and continued to press more tightly, ever till
CHAP. V.] PAGANISM. 129
he delivered a righteous one. Placed on the neck
of a witness, if he bore false testimony it acted
similarly, until it forced him to acknowledge the
truth.
" The Adze of Mochta": the metal head of an
adze was made red-hot in a fire of blackthorn or of
the quicken-tree, " and the [tongue of the accused]
was passed over it : it would burn the person who
had falsehood : but would not burn the person who
was innocent."
The "Three Dark Stones": a bucket was filled
with bog-dust, charcoal, and other kinds of black
stuff, and three little stones, white, black, and
speckled, were put into it, buried deep in the black
mass, into which the accused thrust down his hand :
if he drew the white stone, he was innocent : if the
black one, he was guilty : and if he drew the speckled
one, he was half guilty."
The "Caldron of truth" was a vessel of silver and
gold. "Water was heated in it till it was boiling;
into which the accused plunged his hand : if he
was guilty, the hand was burned : if not, it was
uninjured. " Lot-casting " — in several forms — was
very common as an ordeal. " Luchta's iron": the
druids having first uttered an incantation over a
piece of iron, put it in a fire till it was red-hot. It
was then placed in the hand of the accused : and u it
would burn him if he had guilt: but would not
injure him if innocent." "Waiting at an altar."
The person was to go nine times round the [pagan]
altar, and afterwards to drink water over which a
druid's incantations had been uttered. " If the man
was guilty, the sign of his transgression was made
K
130 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
manifest in him [by some bodily disfigurement] : if
innocent, he remained unharmed." Observe the
striking resemblance of this last to the Jewish ordeal
for a woman suspected of misconduct, as we read in
the Book of Numbers, chapter v.
10. The Evil Eye.
From various passages in some very old documents,
it may be inferred that the belief in the evil eye was
very prevalent in Ireland in old times. The great
Fomorian champion, Balor of the Mighty Blows, had
a tremendous evil eye called Birach-derc (' speary-
eye' : bir, 'a spear'). It was never opened except
on the field of battle ; and one baleful glance was
enough to enfeeble a whole army of his enemies, so
as that a few brave men could put them to flight.
The Tale of the Second Battle of Moytura relates
how he came by his evil eye. When he was a boy,
his father's druids used to concoct their spells in a
room carefully closed, ' cooking sorcery ' over a fire
in a caldron, from some horrible ingredients, like
Shakespeare's witches in " Macbeth." The boy,
curious to know what the druids were at, climbed up
and peeped through an opening, when a whiff of foul
steam from the caldron blew into his eye, and com-
municated to it all the baleful influence of the hellish
mixture. But this eye, powerful as it was, was not
proof against the tathlum or sling-ball of his grandson
Lug of the Long Arms. At the Second Battle of
Moytura, Balor was present, prepared to use his eye
on the Dedannan army. But Lug, who was on the
side of the Dedannans, kept on the watch ; and the
CHAP. V.] PAGANISM. 131
moment the lid of the Cyclopean eye was raised, and
before the glare had time to work bale, he let fly the
hard ball from his sling, which struck the open eye
with such force as to go clean through eye, brain,
and skull.
These observations may be brought to a close by
the remark that the superstition of the evil eye has
remained among our people — as among others — down
to this day.
11. Geasa or Prohibitions.
There were certain acts which people were pro-
hibited from doing under penalty of misfortune or
ill luck of some kind. Such a prohibition was called
geis or geas [gesh, gass : g hard as in get, gap~] :
plural geasa [gassa]. A geis was something for-
bidden. It was believed to be very dangerous to dis-
regard these prohibitions. Because Conari the Great,
king of Ireland in the first century of the Christian
era, violated some of his geasa — most of them un-
wittingly— the peace of his reign was broken by
plunder and rapine ; and he himself was finally slain
in the sack of Da Derga's Hostel. Some geasa were
binding on people in general. Thus, on the day of
King Laegaire's festival, it was geis for the people to
light a fire anywhere round Tara till the king's festival
fire had first been lighted. It was geis for anyone to
bring arms into the palace of Tara after sunset.
The most interesting of the geasa were those im-
posed on kings : of which the object of some was
obviously to avoid unnecessary personal danger or
loss of dignity. For example, it was a geis to the
e2
132 EELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
king of Einain (i.e. of Ulster) to attack alone a wild
boar in his den : a sensible restriction. According
to the Book of Acaill and many other authorities, it
was geis for a king with a personal blemish to reign
at Tara : so that when king Cormac mac Art lost one
eye by an accident, he at once abdicated. The reason
of these two geasa is plain enough. But there were
others which it is not so easy to explain. They ap-
pear to be mere superstitions — obviously from pagan
times — meant to avoid unlucky days, evil omens,
&c. Some kings were subject to geasa from which
others were free. The king of Emain was forbidden
to listen to the singing of the birds of Lough Swilly,
or to bathe in Lough Foyle on a May Day. The
king of Ireland and the provincial kings had each a
series of geasa. To the king of Ireland it was for-
bidden that the sun should rise on him while lying
in bed in Tara, i.e. he should be up before sunrise ;
he was not to alight from his chariot on Moy Breagh
on a Wednesday ; and he was not to go round North
Leinster left-hand-wise under any circumstances.
Many others of these kingly geasa may be seen in
my larger " Social History of Ancient Ireland,"
vol. i., pages 311-312.
It is well known that geasa or prohibitions were,
and are still, common among all people, whether
savage or civilized. They flourish at this day among
ourselves. Some people will not dine in a company
of thirteen, or remove to a new house on a' Saturday,
or get married in May : what are these but geasa,
and quite as irrational as any of those enumerated
above ?
Composed from the Book of Kells.
CHAPTER VI.
CHRISTIANITY.
Section 1. Christianity before St. Patrick's Arrival.
hat there were Christians in Ireland
flong before the time of St. Patrick we
||S know from the words of St. Prosper of
Aquitaine, who lived at the time of the
event he records. He tells us that, in
the year 431, Pope Celestine sent Palladius "to the
Scots believing in Christ, to be their first bishop":
and Bede repeats the same statement. Palladius
landed on the coast of the present County Wicklow,
and after a short and troubled sojourn he converted
a few people, and founded three little churches in
that part of the country. One of them is called in
the old records Cill Fine or CiU-Fine-Cormaic [pro-
nounced Killeena-Cormac], where a venerable lonely
little cemetery exists to this day, three miles south-
west from Dunlavin in Wicklow, and is still called
by the old name, slightly changed to Killeen Cormac.
There must have been Christians in considerable
numbers when the Pope thought a bishop necessary ;
CHAP. VI.] CHRISTIANITY. 135
and such numbers could not have grown up in a
short time. It is highly probable that the know-
ledge of Christianity that existed in Ireland before
the arrival of Palladius and Patrick (in 431 and 432,
respectively) came from Britain, with which the
Irish then kept up constant intercourse, and where
there were large numbers of Christians from a very
early time. However, the great body of the Irish
were pagans when St. Patrick arrived in 432 ; and
to him belongs the glory of converting them.
2. The three Orders of Irish Saints.
In an old Catalogue, written in Latin by some
unknown author, not later than a.d. 750 (possibly in
700), the ancient Irish saints are distinguished into
three "Orders"; and much information is given
regarding them. The following are the main points
of this valuable old document.
Those of " The First Order of Catholic Saints "
were all bishops, beginning with St. Patrick : they
were "most holy: shining like the sun." They
were 350 in number, all founders of churches. "All
these bishops " — the Catalogue goes on to say — " were
sprung from the Romans, and Franks, and Britons,
and Scots " ; that is, they consisted of St. Patrick,
with the numerous foreign missionaries who accom-
panied or followed him, and of the Britons and native
Scots, or Irish, ordained by him and his successors.
This order continued for something more than a
century.
Those of" The Second Order were Catholic Priests,"
numbering 300, of whom a few were bishops. These
18G RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
were "very holy," and " they shone like the moon."
They lasted for a little more than half a century.
The Third Order consisted of priests and a few
bishops: these were "holy," and "shone like the
stars." They continued for a little less than three
quarters of a century.
Put into matter-of-fact language, the historical
statement is briefly this : —
1. For a little more than a century after St.
Patrick's arrival, the work of conversion was carried
on by the Patrician clergy and their successors, who
were nearly all active missionary priests. Many
belonging to this order were foreigners.
2. During the latter half of the sixth century,
monasteries spread rapidly over the country, and
monastic clergy then and for long afterwards greatly
predominated. Nearly all belonging to this Order
and the Third were natives.
3. From the end of the sixth century, for seventy
or eighty years, eremitical communities, settled in
remote and lonely places, became very general. It
will be necessary to describe these three religious
developments in some detail.
3. The First Order : Patrician Secular Clergy.
During the century and a quarter following St.
Patrick's arrival, i.e., from a.d. 432 to about 559,
the clergy who laboured to spread the faith among
the people appear to have been for the most part
unconnected with monasteries : in other words, they
corresponded to the present secular or parochial
clergy. These Patrician clergy, as they may be
CHAP. VI.]
CHRISTIANITY.
137
called, were the First Order of saints. Among them
were many distinguished bishops, some of whom are
named in the Catalogue. There were monasteries
and schools also during the whole of this period, and
many of the abbots were bishops : but monasteries did
not constitute the main feature of the ecclesiastical
system : for the life of
St. Patrick, and, it
may be added, the life
of the First Order of
saints in general, was,
as the Most Rev. Dr.
Healy remarks, " too
full of missionary
labours to be given
to the government or
foundation of monas-
teries." During this
period, therefore, the
clergy devoted them-
selves entirely to the
home mission — the
conversion of the Irish
people — which gave
them quite enough to
do. For more than
thirty years they were
led by their great master, with all his fiery and tire-
less energy. After his death, his disciples and their
successors continued the work. But the struggle
was a hard one : for the druids exerted them-
selves to the utmost to retard and limit the spread
of the faith ; and besides this, many unconverted
'W
Fig. 36.
Doorway of hermitage of St. Ere, one of
St. Patrick's converts, and first bishop of
S!ane : beside the Boyne, near Slane : a relic
of the Patrician clergy. Present building
erected long after St. Erc's time. (From
Wilde's Boyne and Blackwater.)
138
RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
pagans still remained in most parts of the country,
who naturally supported the druids.
4. The Second Order: Monastic Clergy.
Rise of Monasticism— About the middle of the
sixth century a great monastic religious movement
Fig. 37-
Ancient baptismal font of Clonard : three feet high ; still preserved in the
church there. (From Wilde's Boyne and Blackwater.) Not a vestige of any
old building remains on the site of this great monastery.
took its rise, mainly from the monastery and college
of Clonard, founded by St. Finnen about the year
527. Soon after his settlement here, great numbers
of disciples, attracted by his learning and holiness,
gathered round him. Under him were educated and
trained for monastic and missionary work many of
the most illustrious fathers of the Irish Church,
CHAP. VI.] CHRISTIANITY. 139
including the ll Twelve Apostles of Erin":* so that
St. Finnen, who was a bishop, is called " a doctor of
wisdom, and the tutor of the saints of Ireland in
his time." These men, going forth from Clonard in
all directions, founded, in imitation of their master
Finnen, numerous monasteries, schools, and colleges,
which subsequently became famous throughout all
Europe. And now new life and vigour were infused
into the Irish missionary Church ; and the work of
Patrick and his companions was carried on with
renewed zeal and wonderful success. The influence
of the druids was finally broken down, though they
still lingered on, but obscurely and feebly, for many
generations. Then also arose the zeal for preaching
the Gospel in foreign lands, that gave rise to that
vast emigration of Irish missionaries and scholars
spoken of farther on.
Monastic Life. — The religious houses of this
second class of Irish saints constituted the vast
majority of the monasteries that flourished in Ireland
down to the time of their suppression by Henry VIII.
These are the monasteries that figure so prominently
in the ecclesiastical history of Ireland : and it will be
interesting to look into them somewhat closely and
see how they were managed, and how the monks
spent their time.
For spiritual direction, and for the higher spiritual
functions, such as those of ordination, confirmation,
consecration of churches, &c, a bishop was commonly
attached to every large monastery and nunnery. The
* For the Twelve Apostles of Erin, see the larger work,
A Social History of Ancient Ireland, vol. i., p. 322.
140
RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
monastic discipline was very strict, turning on the
one cardinal principle of instant and unquestioning
obedience. There was to be no idleness : everyone
was to be engaged, at all available times, in some
useful work ; a regulation which appears everywhere
in our ecclesiastical historv.
Fig. 38.
" St. Columb's or ColumkiOe's House," at Kells, Co. Meath : interior measure-
ment about 16 feet by 13: walls 4 feet thick. An arched roof immediately
overhead inside : between which and the steeply-sloped external stone roof is a
small apartment for habitation and sleeping, 6 feet high. A relic of the second
order of saints, and probably coeval with St. Columkille, sixth century. (From
Petrie's Round Towers.)
The monasteries of the Second Order were what
are commonly known as " cenobitical" or community
establishments : i.e., the inmates lived, studied, and
worked in society and companionship, and had all
CHAP. VI.] CHRISTIANITY. 141
things in common. In sleeping accommodation there
was much variety ; in some monasteries each monk
having a sleeping-cell for himself ; in others three or
four in one cell. In some they slept on the bare
earth : in others they used a skin, laid perhaps on a
little straw or rushes. Their food was prepared in
one large kitchen by some of their own members
specially skilled in cookery ; and they took their meals
in one common refectory. The fare, both eating and
drinking, was always simple and generally scanty,
poor, and uninviting : but on Sundays and festival
days, and on occasions when distinguished persons
visited, whom the abbot wished to honour, more
generous food and drink were allowed.
When the founder of a monastery had determined
on the neighbourhood in which to settle, and had
fixed on the site for his establishment, he brought
together those who had agreed to become his disciples
and companions, and they set about preparing the
place for residence. They did all the work with their
own hands, seeking no help from outside. While
some levelled and fenced in the ground, others cut
down, in the surrounding woods, timber for the
houses or for the church, dragging the great logs
along, or bringing home on their backs bundles
of wattles and twigs for the wickerwork walls.
Even the leaders claimed no exemption, but often
worked manfully with axe and spade like the
rest.
Every important function of the monastery was in
charge of some particular monk, who superintended
if several persons were required for the duty, or did
the work himself if only one was needed. These
142 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
persons were nominated by the abbot, and held their
positions permanently for the time. There was a
tract of land attached to almost every monastery,
granted to the original founder by the king or local
lord, and usually increased by subsequent grants : so
that agriculture formed one of the chief employments.
When returning from work in the evening, the monks
brought home on their backs whatever things were
needed in the household for that night and next day.
Milk was often brought in this manner in a vessel
specially made for the purpose : and it was the
custom to bring the vessel straight to the abbot, that
he might bless the milk before use. In this field-
work the abbot bore a part in several monasteries :
and we sometimes read of men, now famous in Irish
history — abbots and bishops in their time — putting
in a hard day's work at the plough.
Those who had been tradesmen before entering
were put to their own special work for the use of
community and guests. Some ground the corn with
a quern or in the mill ; some made and mended
clothes ; some worked in the smith's forge or in the
carpenter's workshop ; while others baked the bread
or cooked the meals.
Attached to every cenobitical monastery was a
' guest house ' or hospice, for the reception of travellers.
Some of the inmates were told off for this duty,
whose business it was to receive the stranger, take off
his shoes, wash his feet in warm water, and prepare
supper and bed for him. In the educational establish-
ments, teaching afforded abundant employment to
the scholarly members of the community. Others
again worked at copying and multiplying books for
CHAP. VI.] CHRISTIANITY. 143
the library, or for presentation outside; and to the
industry of these scribes we owe the chief part of
the ancient Irish lore, and other learning, that has
been preserved to us. St. Columkille devoted every
moment of his spare time to this work, writing in a
little wooden hut that he had erected for his use at
Iona. It is recorded that he wrote with his own
hand three hundred copies of the New Testament,
which he presented to the various churches he had
founded. Some spent their time in ornamenting and
illuminating books — generally of a religious character,
such as copies of portions of Scripture : and these
men produced the wonderful penwork of the Book of
Kells and other such manuscripts.
Others were skilled metal-workers, and made
crosiers, crosses, bells, brooches, and other articles,
of which many are preserved to this day, that show
the surpassing taste and skill of the artists. But this
was not peculiar to Irish monks, for those of other
countries worked similarly. The great English St.
Dun stan, we know, was an excellent artist in metal-
work. Some of the Irish monks too were skilled in
simple herb remedies ; and the poor people around
often came to them for advice and medicine in
sickness. When a monastery was situated on the
bank of a large river where there was no bridge, the
monks kept a curragh ready to ferry travellers across,
free of charge.
In some monasteries it was the custom to keep a
fire perpetually burning in a little chapel specially set
apart for this purpose, to which the inmates attended
in turn to supply fuel, so that the fire might never go
out. The perpetual fire of Kildare, which was kept
144 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
alight from the time of St. Brigit for many centuries,
is commemorated in Moore's lines : —
" Like the bright lamp that shone in Kildare's holy fane,
And burned through long ages of darkness and storm : "
and there were similar fires in Kilmainham, Seir-
kieran, and lnishmurray.
Besides the various employments noticed in the
preceding pages, the inmates had their devotions to
attend to, which were frequent, and often long : and
in most monasteries they had to rise at the sound of
the bell in the middle of the night, and go to the
adjacent church to prayers.
Conversion of England and Northern Scot-
land.— Towards the end of the sixth century the
great body of the Irish were Christians, so that the
holy men of Ireland turned their attention to the
conversion of other people. Then arose — almost
suddenly — an extraordinary zeal for spreading the
Gospel in foreign lands : and hundreds of devoted and
determined missionaries left our shores. By a curious
custom, not found elsewhere, each chief missionary
going abroad brought with him twelve companions,
but sometimes they went in much larger bodies.
On every side we meet with evidences of the
activity of the Irish in Great Britain. Iona was
founded in 563 by St. Columkille, a native of
Donegal, and from this illustrious centre, he and
his monks evangelised northern and western Scot-
land. The whole western coasts of England and
Wales abound in memorials of Irish missionaries.
Numbers of the most illustrious of the Irish saints
studied and taught in the monastery of St. David in
CHAP. VI.] CHRISTIANITY. 145
Wales ; St. Dunstan was educated by Irish monks in
Glastonbury, as his biographer, William of Malines-
bury, testifies ; and there is good reason to believe
that Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, one of the most illus-
trious of the saints of Britain, was a native of Ireland.
Lanigan, in his "Ecclesiastical History" (n. 174),
writes : —
" The Irish clergy and monks undertook the duty [of preach-
ing to the Anglo-Saxons] as soon as a fit opportunity occurred,
and have been on that account praised by Bede. It can scarcely
be doubted that they were the instruments used by tbe Almighty
for the conversion of those early Anglo-Saxon Christians in
Columba's time; and that, with regard to a part of that nation,
they got the start of the Roman missionaries in the blessed
work of bringing them over to the Christian faith."
The Roman missionaries, under St. Augustine,
arrived in England in 597, and succeeded in con-
verting the Anglo-Saxon people of the kingdom
of Kent. But in the north of Britain, including
the large kingdom of Northumbria, Christianity
made little headway till St. Aidan began his labours
in Lindisfarne in 634. Aidan was an Irishman
descended from the same kingly race as St. Brigit ;
he was educated at home, and, like so many of his
countrymen, entered the monastery of Iona. After
some time he was commissioned by the abbot and
monks to preach to the Northumbrian Saxons, at
the request of their good King Oswald that a mis-
sionary might be sent, this king being himself a
zealous Christian who had spent some years in exile
in Ireland, where he had been converted and received
his education. Aidan, who had been consecrated a
bishop, chose as his place of residence the little
146 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
island of Lindisfarne, where he founded the monas-
tery that became so illustrious in after ages. For
thirty years — from 634 to 664 — this monastery was
governed by him and by two other Irish bishops,
Finan and Colman, in succession.
Aidan, assisted by a number of his fellow-country-
men, laboured zealously, and with wonderful success,
among the rugged Northumbrian pagans. " Many
of the Scots " — writes the Venerable Bede — "came
daily into Britain, and with great devotion preached
the Word to those provinces of the English over
which King Oswald reigned." These earnest men
had the hearty co-operation and support of the king,
of which Bede has given an interesting illustration
in a passage where he tells us that as Aidan, on
his arrival in Northumbria, was only imperfectly
acquainted with the language, King Oswald, who
had learned the Irish tongue while in Ireland, often
acted as his interpreter to the people.
Montalembert, in his account of this mission,
writes : —
" Forty-eight years after Augustine and his Roman monks
landed on the shores of pagan England, an Anglo-Saxon prince
[Oswald] invoked the aid of the monks of Iona in the conver-
sion of the Saxons of the north. . . . The spiritual conquest
of the island [Britain], ahandoned for a time hy the Roman
missionaries, was now ahout to he taken up hy the Celtic
monks. The Italians [under Augustine] had made the first
step,* and the Irish now appeared to resume the uncompleted
work. What the sons of St. Benedict could only begin, was to
he completed by the sons of St. Columba."
* But we know that the monks from Ireland were beforehand
with St. Augustine : see Lanigan's observations above.
CHAP. VI.
CHRISTIANITY.
147
Missions to Foreign Lands. — Whole crowds of
ardent and learned Irishmen travelled to the Con-
tinent in the sixth, seventh, and succeeding centuries,
spreading Christianity and secular knowledge every-
where among the people. " What," says Eric of
Auxerre (ninth century), in a letter to Charles the
Bald, " what shall I say of Ireland, who, despising
Fig. 39.
Shrine, now preserved in Copenhagen, showing the OJ>us Hibernicum''.
one of the Continental traces of Irish missionaries. Made either by an Irish
artist, or by one who hadjearned from Irish artists. (From Journ. Roy. Soc.
Antiqq. Irel.)
the dangers of the deep, is migrating with almost her
whole train of philosophers to our coasts ?" " A
characteristic still more distinctive of the Irish monk"
— writes Montalembert — " as of all their nation, was
the imperious necessity of spreading themselves with-
out, of seeking or carrying knowledge and faith afar,
and of penetrating into the more distant regions to
l2
148 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
watch or combat paganism " : and a little further on
he speaks of their " Passion for pilgrimage and
preaching."
These men, on their first appearance on the Con-
tinent, caused much surprise, they were so startlingly
different from those preachers the people had been
accustomed to. They generally — as we have said —
went in companies. They wore a coarse outer woollen
garment, in colour as it came from the fleece, and
under this a white tunic of finer stuff. They were
tonsured bare on the front of the head, while the
long hair behind flowed down on the back : and the
eyelids were painted or stained black. Each had a
long stout cambutta, or walking-stick : and slung
from the shoulder a leathern bottle for water, and a
wallet containing his greatest treasure — a book or
two and some relics. They spoke a strange language
among themselves, used Latin to those who under-
stood it, and made use of an interpreter when preach-
ing, until they had learned the language of the place.
Few people have any idea of the trials and dangers
they encountered. Most of them were persons in
good position, who might have lived in plenty and
comfort at home. They knew well, when setting
out, that they were leaving country and friends pro-
bably for ever ; for of those that went, very few
returned. Once on the Continent, they had to make
their way, poor and friendless, through people whose
language they did not understand, and who were in
many places ten times more rude and dangerous in
those ages than the inhabitants of these islands :
and we know, as a matter of history, that many were
killed on the way. Yet these stout-hearted pilgrims,
CHAP. VI.] CHRISTIANITY. i49
looking only to the service of their Master, never
flinched. They were confident, cheerful, and self-
helpful, faced privation with indifference, caring
nothing for luxuries ; and when other provisions
failed them, they gathered wild fruit, trapped animals,
and fished, with great dexterity and with any sort
of next-to-hand rude appliances. They were rough
and somewhat uncouth in outward appearance : but
beneath all that they had solid sense and much learn-
ing. Their simple ways, their unmistakable piety,
and their intense earnestness in the cause of religion
caught the people everywhere, so that they made
converts in crowds.
Irish professors and teachers were in those times held
in such estimation that they were employed in most
of the schools and colleges of Great Britain, France,
Germany, and Italy. The revival of learning on the
Continent was indeed due in no small degree to those
Irish missionaries ; and the investigations of scholars
among the continental libraries are every year bring-
ing to light new proofs of their industry and zeal for
the advancement of religion and learning. To this
day, in many towns of France, Germany, Switzer-
land, and Italy, Irishmen are venerated as patron
saints. Nay, they found their way even to Iceland.
We have the best authority for the statement that
when the Norwegians first arrived at that island,
they found there Irish books, bells, crosiers, and
other traces of Irish missionaries ; and the Irish
geographer Dicuil, who wrote his Geography of the
World in 825, records that in 795 some Irish eccle-
siastics had sojourned in Iceland from February to
August, where — as they told him — during a part of
150 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
the time, they had sufficient light to transact their
ordinary business all night through. Europe was
too small for their missionary enterprise. We find a
distinguished Irish monk named Augustin in Carthage
in Africa, in the seventh century : and a learned
treatise by him, written in very elegant Latin, on the
" Wonderful Things of the Sacred Scripture/' is still
extant, and has been published. During his time also
two other Irish monks named Baetan and Mainchine
laboured in Carthage. There were settlements of
Irish monks also in the Faroe and Shetland Islands.
All over the Continent we find evidences of the zeal
and activity of Irish missionaries. Twelve centuries
after this host of good men had received the reward
they earned so well, an Irish pilgrim of our own day
— Miss Margaret Stokes — traversed a large part of
the scene of their labours in Southern Europe, in a
loving and reverential search for relics and memo-
rials of them : and how well she succeeded, how
numerous were the vestiges she found— abbeys,
churches, oratories, hermitages, caves, crosses, altars,
tombs, holy wells, baptismal fonts, bells, shrines,
and crosiers, beautiful illuminated manuscripts in
their very handwriting, place-names, passages in
the literatures of many languages— all with their
living memories, legends, and traditions still cluster-
ing round them — she has recorded in her two charm-
ing books, " Six Months in the Apennines," and
"Three Months in the Forests of France." May she
be welcomed by those she revered and honoured !
The Irish " Passion for pilgrimage and preaching "
never died out : it is characteristic of the race. This
great missionary emigration to foreign lands has
CHAP. VI.]
CHEISTIANITY.
151
continued in a measure down to our own day : for
it may be safely asserted that no other missionaries
are playing so general and successful a part in the
::
feli&^fi
fi
-.■ ...
^W£5ssr^f^^^^^g5^^^==^
Fig. 40.
Holy Well of St. Dicuil, at Lure, in France: from Miss Stokes's Three
Months in the Forests of France. This Dicuil (different from Dicuil the
geographer) was a native of Leinster: educated at Bangor in Down: accom-
panied St. Columbanus to the Continent : founded a Monastery at Lure, where
he is now venerated as patron saint: died A.D. 625. Well still called by his
name: much resorted to by pilgrims.
conversion of the pagan people all over the world,
and in keeping alight the lamp of religion among
Christians, as those of Ireland. Take up any foreign
ecclesiastical directory or glance through any news-
152 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
paper account of religious meetings or ceremonies, or
bold missionary enterprises in foreign lands ; or look
through the names of the governing bodies of Univer-
sities, Colleges, and Monasteries, in America, Asia,
Australia, New Zealand— all over the world — and
your eye is sure to light on cardinals, archbishops,
bishops, priests, principals, professors, teachers, with
such names as Moran, O'Reilly, O'Donnell, Mac
Carthy, Higgins, Murphy, Walsh, Fleming, Fitz-
gerald, Corrigan, O'Gorman, Byrne, and scores of
such -like, telling unmistakably of their Irish origin,
and proving that the Irish race of the present day
may compare not unfavourably in missionary zeal
with those of the times of old. As the sons of
Patrick, Finnen, and Columkille took a leading part in
converting the people of Britain and the Continent,
so it would seem to be destined that the ultimate
universal adoption of Christianity should be mainly
due to the agency of Irish missionaries.
5. The Third Order : Anchorites or Hermits, and
Hermit Communities.
We have records of numerous individual hermits
from the time of St. Patrick down, retiring from the
world to spend their days in prayer and meditation
in lonely places remote from human society. But
the desire for eremitical life became very general
about the end of the sixth century. Then not only
individuals, but whole communities of monks sought
a solitary life. The leader of a colony of intended
recluses went with his followers to some remote place,
in a deep valley surrounded by mountains, forests,
CHAP. VI.] CHRISTIANITY. 153
and bogs, or on some almost inaccessible little island,
where they took up their abode. Each man built a
cell for himself: and these cells, with a little church
in the midst, all surrounded by a low cashel, rath,
or wall, formed an eremitical monastery : a monastic
group like those known in the East by the name of
" Laura." Each monk passed the greater part of his
life in his own cell, holding little or no communica-
tion with his fellows, except only at stated times in
the day or night, when all assembled in the church
for common worship, or in the refectory for meals.
Their food consisted of fruits, nuts, roots, and other
vegetables, which they cultivated in a kitchen-garden :
and it must often have gone hard with them to
support life. The remains of these little monasteries
are still to be seen in several parts of Ireland, both
on the mainland and on islands : as, for instance, at
Gougane Barra lake, the source of the Lee in Cork,
where St. Finbarr, patron of Cork, settled with his
hermit community in the end of the sixth century ;
on Inishmurray off the Sligo coast ; on Ardoilen, a
little ocean rock off the coast of Galway, where a
laura was founded by St. Fechin in the seventh
century ; and on the Great Skellig off the Kerry
coast, where there still remains an interesting group
of cloghans, i.e. beehive-shaped stone houses.
These hermit communities were the Third Order of
Saints, who are very correctly described in the old
Catalogue. It is stated that they lasted till the time
of the Yellow Plague in 664, which broke up the
system of eremitical monasteries ; but long after this
we find numerous records of individual hermits.
There were nuns and convents in Ireland from the
154 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
time of St. Patrick, as we know from his " Confession,"
and from his "Epistle to Coroticus": nevertheless
v \:w
it may almost be said that St. Brigit of Kildare was
the founder of the Irish conventual system.
CHAP. VI.
CHRISTIANITY.
155
6* Buildings and other Material Requisites.
Churches and Monastic Buildings.— Nearly all
the churches in the time of St. Patrick, and for
several centuries afterwards, were of wood. But this
was by no means universally the case ; for little
Fig. 42.
St. MacDara's primitive church on St. Mac Dara's Island, off the coast of Gahvay.
Interior measurement 15 feet by 11. (From Petrie's Round Towers.)
stone churches were erected from the earliest
Christian times. The early churches, built on the
model of those introduced by St. Patrick, were small
and plain, seldom more than sixty feet long, some-
times not more than fifteen, always a simple oblong,
never cruciform ; almost universally placed east and
west, with the door in the west end.
156
RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
As Christianity spread, the churches became
gradually larger and more ornamental, and a chancel
was often added at the east end, which was another
m?0&
Fig. 43-
St. Doulogh's stone-roofed Church, four miles north of Dublin. St. Duilech,
one of the early Irish saints, settled here and built a church ; but the present
church (here figured) is not older than the thirteenth century. (From Wakeman's
Handbook of Irish Antiquities.)
oblong, merely a continuation of the larger building,
with an arch between. The jambs of both doors
and windows inclined, so that the bottom of the
CHAP. VI.]
CHRISTIANITY.
157
opening was wider than the top : this shape of door
or window is a sure mark of antiquity. The door-
ways were commonly constructed of very large
stones, with almost always a horizontal lintel : the
Fig. 44.
Doorway of Tempull Caimhain in Aran, with sloped sides.
(From Miss Stokess Inscriptions.)
windows were often semi-circularly arched at top,
but sometimes triangular-headed. The remains of
little stone churches, of these antique patterns, of
ages from the fifth or sixth century to the tenth
or eleventh, are still to be found all over Ireland.
158 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART IT.
The small early churches, without chancels, were
often or generally roofed with flat stones, of which
Cormac's chapel at Cashel, St. Doulogh's near
Dublin (p. 156), St. Columh's house at Kells (p. 140,
supra), and St. Mac Dara's Church (p. 155, supra),
are examples. In early ages churches were often in
groups of seven — or intended to be so — a custom still
commemorated in popular phraseology, as in " The
Seven Churches of Glendalough."
In the beginning of the eleventh century, what
is called the Romanesque style of architecture, dis-
tinguished by a profusion of ornamentation — a style
that had previously been spreading over Europe —
was introduced into Ireland. Then the churches,
though still small and simple in plan, began to be
richly decorated. We have remaining numerous
churches in this style : a beautiful example is
Cormac's chapel on the Rock of Cashel, erected in
1134 by Cormac Mac Carthy, king of Munster
(figured on title-page).
Nemed or Sanctuary. — The land belonging to
and around a church — the glebe-land — was a sanc-
tuary, and as such was known by the names of
Nemed [neveh] meaning literally ' heavenly' or
' sacred,' and Termann or Termon, meaning
' boundary ' ; for the sanctuary was generally
marked off at the corners by crosses or pillar-stones.
Once a culprit, fleeing from enraged pursuers, suc-
ceeded in getting inside the boundary, he was safe
for the time ; for no one durst violate the sanctuary
by molesting him. But when the immediate occa-
sion passed, he was given up to be dealt with by the
ordinary tribunals.
CHAP. VI.]
CHKISTIANITY.
159
It was usual for the founders of churches to plant
trees — oftenest yew, but sometimes oak or ash — for
ornament and shelter, round the church and ceme-
tery, and generally within the sanctuary. These
little plantations were subsequently held in great
veneration, and it was regarded as an outrageous
desecration to cut down one of the trees, or even
to lop off a branch. They were called Fidnemed
[finneveh], ' sacred grove,' or grove of the nemed
or sanctuary : from fid (fih), ' a wood or grove.'
The most general term for a church was, and is
still, cill [kill], derived from Lat. cella ; but there
were several other names.
'
Fig. 45-
Dominican Abbey, Kilmallock : founded in 1291 by Gilbert Fitzgerald.
(From Kilk. Archasol. Journ.)
Later Churches.— Until about the period of the
Anglo-Norman Invasion all the churches, including
those in the Romanesque style, were small, because
160 KELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
the congregations were small. But about the middle
of the twelfth century the old Irish style of church
architecture began to be abandoned, chiefly through
the influence of the Anglo-Normans, who were, as
we know, great builders. Towards the close of the
century, when many of the great English lords had
settled in Ireland, they began to indulge their taste
for architectural magnificence, and the native Irish
chiefs imitated and emulated them ; large cruciform
churches in the pointed style began to prevail ; and
all over the country splendid buildings of every
kind sprang up. Then were erected — some by the
English, some by the Irish — those stately abbeys
and churches of which the ruins are still to be seen ;
such as those of Kilmallock and Monasteranenagh
in Limerick ; Jerpoint in Kilkenny ; Grey Abbey in
Down ; Bective and Newtown in Meath ; Sligo ;
Quin, Corcomroe, and Ennis in Clare ; Ballintober
in Mayo ; Knockmoy in Galway ; Dunbrody in
Wexford ; Buttevant ; Cashel ; and many others.
Round Towers. — In connexion with many of the
ancient churches there were round towers of stone
from 60 to 150 feet high, and from 13 to 20 feet in
external diameter at the base : the top was conical.
The interior was divided into six or seven stories
reached by ladders from one to another, and each
story was lighted by one window : the top story had
usually four windows. The door was placed 10 or
more feet from the ground outside, and was reached
by a ladder : both doors and windows had sloping
jambs like those of the churches. About eighty
round towers still remain, of which about twenty are
perfect : the rest are more or less imperfect.
CHAP. VI.] CHRISTIANITY. 161
Formerly there was much speculation as to the
uses of these round towers; but Dr. George Petrie,
after examining the towers themselves, and — with the
help of O'Donovan and O'Curry — searching through
all the Irish literature within his reach for allusions
to them, set the question at rest in his Essay on
" The Origin and Uses of the Round Towers." It is
now known that they are of Christian origin, and
■I:
Fig. 46.
Great Tower, Clonmacnoise. (From Petrie's Round Towers.)
that they were always built in connexion with
ecclesiastical establishments. They were erected at
various times from about the beginning of the ninth
to the thirteenth century. They had at least a two-
fold use : as belfries, and as keeps to which the
inmates of the monastery retired with their valuables
— such as books, shrines, crosiers, relics, and vest-
ments— in case of sudden attack. They were probably
used also — when occasion required — as beacons and
at
162 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
watch-towers. These are Dr. Petrie's conclusions,
but he fixed the date of some few in the fifth century,
which recent investigations have shown to be too
early. It would appear that it was the Danish
incursions that gave rise to the erection of the round
towers, which began to be built early in the ninth
century simultaneously all over the country. They
Fig. 47-
Round Tower (perfect), Devenish Island, in Lough Erne, near
Enniskillen. (From Kilk. Archasol. Journ.) For another view,
with church, see chap, xx., sect. 5, infra.
were admirably suited to the purpose of affording
refuge from the sudden murderous raids of the
Norsemen : for the inmates could retire with their
valuables on a few minutes' warning, with a good
supply of large stones to drop on the robbers from
the windows ; and once they had drawn up the out-
side ladder and barred the door, the tower was, for a
CHAP. VI.] CHRISTIANITY. 163
short attack, practically impregnable. Round towers
are not quite peculiar to Ireland ; about twenty- two
are found elsewhere — in Bavaria, Italy, Switzerland,
Belgium, Scotland, and other countries.
Remains of Round Tower at Drumcliff, 4 miles north of Sligfo town : built
near the church founded by St. Columkille ; but long after his time.
Monastic Lis or Rampart.— An Irish monastery,
including the whole group of monastic buildings, was
generally enclosed by a strong rampart, commonly
circular or oval, according to the fashion of the
country in the lay homesteads. The rampart was
designated by one of the usual Irish names, rath, or
lios [liss], or if of stone, caiseal [cashel].
Wells. — Wells have at all times been held in
veneration in Ireland by both pagans and Christians ;
and we have seen that many of the pagan Irish
worshipped wells as gods. Some of these were
blessed and consecrated to Christian uses by the
early saints, of which a very interesting instance is
related in Adamnan's Life of St. Columkille. The
saint, traversing Scotland, came to a fountain, to
which the pagans paid divine honours. But he
rescued it from heathenism, and blessed it, so that
m2
164 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
it was ever after revered as a holy well. In this
manner hundreds of the heathen wells were taken
over to Christianity and sanctified by the early saints,
so that they came to be even more venerated by the
Christians than they had been by the pagans. Most
of the early preachers of the Gospel established
their humble foundations — many of them destined
to grow in after-years into great religious and educa-
tional institutions — beside fountains, whose waters
at the same time supplied the daily wants of the
little communities, and served for the baptism of
converts.
There are now innumerable holy wells scattered all
over the country, most of them called by the names
of the noble old missionaries who spent their lives
in converting the pagans or in ministering to the
spiritual needs of the Christian people of the several
localities. In this manner most of our early saints
became associated with wells. The practice began
with St. Patrick, who, we are told, founded a church
at Magh Slecht, in the present County Cavan : " and
there [to this day is reverenced] Patrick's well, in
which he baptised many."
A well is sometimes met with containing one lone
inhabitant — a single trout or salmon — which is always
to be seen swimming about in its tiny dominion :
and sometimes there are two. They are usually tame ;
and the people hold them in great respect, and tell
many wonderful legends about them. This pretty
custom is of old standing, for it originated with the
early Irish saints — even with St. Patrick himself.
The Tripartite Life states, regarding the well of
Aghagower in Mayo, that " Patrick left two salmon
CHAP. VI.] CHRISTIANITY. 165
alive in the well." The same custom prevailed in
the Scottish western islands.
The usual name for a well, both in the old and in
the modern Irish language, is tobar [tubber].
Bells. — The Irish for a bell is clog, akin to the
English clock. St. Patrick and his disciples con-
stantly used consecrated bells in their ministrations.
How numerous they were in Patrick's time we may
understand from the fact, that whenever he left one
of his disciples in charge of a church, he gave him
a bell : and it is recorded that on the churches of
one province alone — Connaught — he bestowed fifty.
To supply these he had in his household three
smiths, whose chief occupation was to make bells.
The most ancient Irish bells were quadrangular in
shape, with rounded corners, and made of iron : facts
which we know both from the ecclesiastical literature,
and from the specimens that are still preserved.
The bell of St. Patrick, which is more than four-
teen hundred years old, is now in the National
Museum in Dublin : it is the oldest of all ; and it
may be taken as a type of the hammered-iron bells.
Its height is 6£ inches : at the mouth the two dimen-
sions are 4£ by 3f inches. It is made of two iron
plates, bent into shape by hammering, and slightly
overlapped at the edges for riveting. After the
joints had been riveted, the bell was consolidated by
the fusion of bronze into the joints and over the
surface — probably by dipping into melted bronze —
which also increased its resonance. This is the bell
known as the "Bell of the Will"; and it is much
celebrated in the Lives of St. Patrick. A beautiful
and costly shrine was made to cover and protect this
166
RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
venerable relic, by order of Donall O'Loghlin, king
of Ireland (died 1121) : and this gorgeous piece of
ancient Irish art, with O'Loghlin's name and three
others inscribed on it, is also preserved in the
National Museum. A beautiful drawing of it made
by Miss Stokes is shown on the opposite page. Many
St. Patricks Bell : called the '* Bell of the "Will.
(From Miss Stokes's Inscriptions.)
others of these venerable iron bronzed bells, belong-
ing to the primitive Irish saints, are preserved in the
National and other Museums, several covered with
ornamental shrines.
About the ninth century the Irish artificers began
to make bells wholly of cast bronze. A beautiful
quadrangular bell of this class, made some short time
Fig. 50.
Shrine of St. Patrick's Bell : now in the National Museum, Dublin.
(From Miss Stokes's Early Christian Art in Ireland.)
168
RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
before a.d. 900, now known as Mac Ailello's Bell,
is to be seen in the National Museum. It tells
its own history in an Irish inscription, of which
this is a translation: — "A prayer for Cummascach
Mac Allelic" This Cummascach, son of Ailill, for
Fig. 51.
Mac Ailello s Bell. (From Miss Stokes's Early Christian Architecture.)
whom the bell was made, was house-steward of the
monastery of Armagh, and died a.d. 908.
The very ancient Irish bells, whether of iron or of
bronze, were small, and were sounded by a clapper
or tongue. All those in the National Museum are
furnished inside at top with a ring, from which the
clapper was hung, and in some the clapper still
remains.
MS. ornamentation. (From Miss Stoktss Early Christian Architecture.)
CHAPTER VII.
LEARNING AND EDUCATION.
Section 1. Learning in Pagan Times:
Ogham.
■any passages in our old native literature,
both ecclesiastical and secular, state
that the pagan Irish had books before
the introduction of Christianity. In
the memoir of St. Patrick, written by
Muirchu in the seventh century, now
contained in the Book of Armagh, he relates how,
during the contest of the saint with the druids at
Tara, King Laegaire [Laery] proposed that one of
Patrick's books and one belonging to the druids
should be thrown into water, to see which would
come out uninjured : a sort of ordeal. Here it will
be observed that Muirchu's statement that the druids
had books embodies a tradition that was ancient in
the seventh century, when he wrote.
The lay traditions, many of them as old as
Muirchu's Life, state that the pagan Irish used
Ogham writing: and we find Ogham inscriptions
170
RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
constantly referred to as engraved on the tombs
of pagan kings and chiefs.
, |, Ml |IM IMM / // /// //// /////
(i) I 'J 'J1 ''J1 M'M (iii) / // /// //// /////
B, L, V, B, N Mj G) Ng> F) R
I |i in mi inn „ . : ;; ;i; :::: :::::
*• > H, I>, T, C, m *■ > A, O, U, E, I
FIG. 52.— Ogham Alphabet. (From Journ. Roy. Soc. Antiqq. Irel. for 1902, p. 3.)
A few other characters were occasionally used.
Ogham was a species of writing, the letters of
which were formed by com-
binations of short lines and
points, on and at both sides
of a middle or stem line
called a flesc. So far as we
can judge from the specimens
remaining to us, its use was
mostly confined to stone in-
scriptions, the groups of
lines and points generally
running along two adjacent
sides of the stone, with the
angle for a flesc. Nearly all
the Oghams hitherto found
are sepulchral inscriptions ;
which answer exactly to the
descriptions given in the old
records. Where inscriptions
have not been injured or
defaced, they can in general
be deciphered, so that many
have been made out beyond
all question. But as the greatest number of Ogham
Fig. 53.— Ogham stone.
(From Kilk. Archoeol. Journal.)
CHAP. VII.] LEARNING AND EDUCATION. 171
stones are more or less worn or chipped or broken,
there is in the interpretation of the majority of the
inscriptions some conjecture and uncertainty.
As to the antiquity of Ogham writing, the best
authorities now agree that it is a survival from the
far distant ages of paganism, and that it was de-
veloped before Christianity was heard of in Ireland.
But while we know that it originated in pagan times,
the custom of engraving Ogham on stones, and of —
occasionally — writing in Ogham characters in vellum
books, continued far into Christian times. In the
ancient tales we find it often stated that Oghams
were cut on rods of yew or oak, and that such rods
were used as a mode of communication between
individuals, serving the same purpose among them
as our letters serve now.
There are many other considerations all tending
to show that there was some form of written litera-
ture before the advent of Christianity ; and several
circumstances indicate a state of literary activity at
the time of the arrival of St. Patrick. Both the
native bardic literature and the ancient Lives of
Patrick himself and of his contemporary saints con-
cur in stating that he found in the country literary
and professional men — all pagans— druids, poets, and
antiquarians, and an elaborate code of laws.
We have seen that in the most ancient native
literature it is expressly stated that the pagan Irish
had books, and the statement is corroborated by an
extern writer, a Christian philosopher of the fourth
century, named Ethicus of Istria ; whose testimony
seems indeed decisive. He made a tour of the three
continents, writing a description — or " Topography" —
172 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
of liis journey as he went along, and among other
places, he visited the British Islands. From Spain
he came direct to Ireland, where, as he says, he spent
some time "examining their volumes." This opening
statement proves that when he visited — which was at
least a century before the time of St. Patrick — he
found books among the Irish ; and it implies that he
found them in abundance, for he remained some
time examining them. The fact that there were
numerous books in Ireland in the fourth century
implies a knowledge of writing for a long time
previously.
From all that precedes, we may take it as
certain : —
1. That native learning was actively cultivated and
systematically developed in Ireland before the intro-
duction of Christianity : and
2. That the pagan Irish had a knowledge of letters,
and that they wrote their lore, or part of it, in books,
and cut Ogham inscriptions on stone and wood.
But when or how they obtained their knowledge of
writing, we have as yet no means of determining
with certainty.
It is true indeed that no books or writings of any
kind, either pagan or Christian, of the time before
St. Patrick, remain — with the exception of Ogham
inscriptions. But this proves nothing: for in this
respect Ireland is circumstanced like most other
countries. A similar state of things exists, for in-
stance, in Britain, where, notwithstanding that
writing was generally known and practised from the
first century down, no manuscript has been preserved
of an earlier date than the eighth century.
VII.]
LEARNING AND EDUCATION,
173
There is nothing, either in the memoirs of St.
Patrick, or in Irish secular literature, or in the
"Topography" of Ethicus, giving the least hint as
to the characters or as to the sort of writing used in
the books of the pagan Irish. It could hardly have
been Ogham, which is too cumbrous for writing-
long passages or treatises in books. But whatever
characters they may have used in times of paganism,
Fig 54.
Two Irish alphabets of Roman letters: the upper one of the seventh century:
the lower of the eleventh. The three last characters of the first alphabet are
Y, 2, and &c. (Two forms of j in each.) (From Miss Stokes's Christian
Inscriptions, II. 135.)
they adopted the Roman letters in writing their own
language after the time of St. Patrick : which are
still retained in modern Irish. These same letters,
moreover, were brought to Britain by the early
Irish Christian missionaries already spoken of, from
174 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
whom the Anglo - Saxons learned them : so that
England received her first knowledge of letters — as
she received most of her Christianity — from Ireland.
Formerly it was the fashion among the learned to
call those letters Anglo-Saxon : but now people
know better. Our present printed characters were
ultimately developed from those old Irish-Roman
letters.
2. Monastic Schools.
Two Classes of Schools. — The schools and
colleges of ancient Ireland were of two classes,
Ecclesiastical and Lay. The ecclesiastical or monas-
tic schools were introduced with Christianity, and
were conducted by monks. The lay or secular schools
existed from a period of unknown antiquity, and in
pagan times they were taught by druids. The Irish
monastic schools were celebrated all over Europe in
the Middle Ages : the lay schools, though playing an
important part in spreading learning at home, were
not so well known. These two classes of schools are
well distinguished all through the literary history of
Ireland, and, without interfering with each other,
worked contemporaneously from the fifth to the
nineteenth century.
General Features of Monastic Schools.— Even
from the time of St. Patrick there were schools in
connexion with several of the monasteries he founded,
chiefly for the education of young men intended
for the church. But when the great monastic
movement already spoken of (p. 138) began, in the
sixth century, then there was a rapid growth of
CHAP. VII.] LEARNING AND EDUCATION. 175
schools and colleges all over the country : for almost
every large monastery had a school attached. Many
of these contained great numbers of students. Under
each of the three fathers of the Irish Church, St.
Finnen in Clonard, St. Comgall in Bangor, and
St. Brendan in Clonfert, there were 3000, including
no doubt monks as well as students ; St. Molaise had
1500; St. Gobban, 1000; and so on down to the
school of Glasnevin, where St. Mobi had 50. This
last — fifty — was a very usual number in the smaller
monastic schools. How such large numbers as those
in Clonard, Bangor, and Clonfert obtained living
and sleeping accommodation will be found described
farther on.
In these schools secular as well as ecclesiastical
learning was carefully attended to; for besides
divinity, the study of the Scriptures, and classics,
for those intended for the church, the students were
instructed — as we shall see — in general literature
and science. Accordingly, a large proportion of the
students in these monastic schools were young
men — amongst them sons of kings and chiefs —
intended, not for the church, but for ordinary civil
or military life, who attended to get a good general
education. Those great seminaries were in fact the
prototypes of our modern universities.
Extent of Learning in Monastic Schools.— We
have ample evidence that both the Latin and Greek
languages and literatures were studied with success
in Ireland from the sixth to the tenth century ; and
that the learned men from the Irish schools were
quite on a par with the most eminent of the Con-
tinental scholars of the time, and not a few of them
176
RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
at the head of all. Columbanus, Aileran the Wise,
Cummian, SeduJius, Fergil the Geometer, Duns
Scotus, and many
others, all Irish-
men, and educated
in Irish schools,
were celebrated
throughout Europe
for their learning.
The most distin-
guished scholar of
his day in Europe
was John Scotus
Erigena ('John the
Irish Scot '), cele-
brated for his
knowledge of Greek,
and for his theolo-
gical speculations.
He taught Philo-
sophy in Paris,
and died about the
year 870.
Foreign Students. — In all the more important
schools there were students from foreign lands, from
the Continent as well as from Great Britain, at-
tracted by the eminence of the masters and by the
facilities for quiet, uninterrupted study. In the
Lives of distinguished Englishmen we constantly
find such statements as "he was sent to Ireland
to finish his education." The illustrious scholar
Alcuin, who was a native of York, was educated at
Clonmacnoise. Among the foreign visitors were
Fig. 55-
John Scotus Erigena. Sculptured in stone
at Brasenose College, Oxford: drawn from
this by Petrie.
CHAP. VII.] LEARNING AND EDUCATION,
177
many princes : Oswald and Aldfrid, kings of North-
umbria, and Dagobert II., king of France, were all
educated in Ireland. We get some idea of the
numbers of foreigners from the ancient Litany of
Aengus the Culdee, in
which we find invoked
many Romans, Gauls,
Germans, and Britons,
all of whom died in
Ireland. To this day
there is to be seen,
on Great Aran
island, a tomb -stone,
with the inscription
"VII Romani,"
Seven Romans. It is
known that in times
of persecution Egyp-
tian monks fled to
Ireland ; and they
have left in the
country many traces
of their influence. In
the same Litany of
Aengus mention is
made of seven Egyp-
tian monks buried in
one place.
The greatest number of foreign students came
from Great Britain — they came in fleet-loads, as
Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne (a.d. 705 to 709),
expresses it in his letter to his friend Eadfrid, Bishop
of Lindisfarne, who had himself been educated in
Tomb-stone of the Seven Romans in Aran,
(From Petrie's Round Towers.)
178 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
Ireland. Many also were from the Continent.
There is a remarkable passage in the Venerable
Bede's " Ecclesiastical History " which corroborates
Aldhelm's statement, as well as what is said in the
native records, and indeed in some particulars goes
rather beyond them. Describing the ravages of the
yellow plague in 664, he says : — "This pestilence did
no less harm in the island of Ireland. Many of
the nobility and of the lower ranks of the English
nation were there at that time, who, in the days
of Bishops Finan and Colman [Irish abbots of
Lindisfarne, p. 146, supra], forsaking their native
island, retired thither, either for the sake of divine
studies, or of a more continent life. . . . The
Scots willingly received them all, and took care to
supply them with food, as also to furnish them with
books to read, and their teaching, all gratis."
Towards the end of the eighth century, it became
the custom to appoint a special head professor —
commonly called a Fer-leginn, i.e. ' Man of learn-
ing'— to preside over, and be responsible for, the
educational functions of the college, while the abbot
had the care of the whole institution.
3. Lay Schools.
-It has been sometimes asserted that, in early
times in Ireland, learning was confined within the
walls of the monasteries ; but this view is quite
erroneous. Though the majority of the men of
learning, in Christian times, were ecclesiastics,
secular learning was by no means confined to the
clergy. We have seen that the monastic schools
CHAP. VII.] LEARNING AND EDUCATION. 179
had many lay pupils, and that there were numerous
lay schools ; so that a considerable body of the lay
community must have been more or less educated —
able to read and write. Nearly all the professional
physicians, lawyers (or brehons), poets, builders, and
historians, were laymen ; a large proportion of the
men chronicled in our annals, during the whole
period of Ireland's literary pre-eminence, as dis-
tinguished in art and general literature, were also
laymen ; lay tutors were often employed to teach
princes ; and, in fact, laymen played a very im-
portant part in the diffusion of knowledge and in
building up that character for learning that rendered
Ireland so famous in former times.
It is true that the great body of the people could
neither read nor write. But they had an education
of another kind — reciting poetry, historic tales, and
legends — or listening to recitation — in which all
people, high and low, took delight, as mentioned
elsewhere. This was true education, a real exercise
for the intellect, and a real and refined enjoyment.
In every hamlet there were one or more amateur
reciters : and this amusement was then more general
than newspaper- and story-reading is now. So that,
taking education, as we ought, in this broad sense,
and not restricting it to the narrow domain of
reading and writing, we see that the great body of
the Irish people of those times were really educated.
There seems no reason to doubt that there were
schools of some kind in Ireland before the intro-
duction of Christianity, which were carried on by
druids. After the general spread of Christianity,
while monastic schools were growing up everywhere
n 2
180 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PAKT II.
through the country, the old schools still held their
ground, taught now by Christian ollaves or doctors —
laymen — who were the representatives of the druid
teachers of old times.
There were several classes of these schools. Some
were known as " Bardic schools," in which were
taught poetry, history, and general Irish literature.
Some were for law, and some for other special pro-
fessions. The Bardic schools were the least technical
of any : and young laymen not intended for pro-
fessions attended them — as many others in greater
numbers attended the monastic schools — to get a
good general education.
4. Some General Features of both classes of Schools.
The " Seven Degrees of Wisdom."— In both
the ecclesiastical and the secular schools there were
seven degrees for the students or graduates, like
the modern University stages of sizars, freshmen,
sophisters, bachelors, moderators, masters, and
doctors. The degrees in the lay schools corre-
sponded with those in the ecclesiastical schools ; but
except in the two last grades the names differed. A
man who had attained the seventh or highest grade in
either class of school was an Ollave or < Doctor.'
For each degree of both classes of schools there
was a specified course of study. In the Bardic
schools the minimum length of the whole course was
twelve years — but it commonly was much longer —
each with its subjects set forth : but we do not know
the length in the monastic schools. Classics — Latin
and Greek — formed a prominent feature of the in-
CHAP. VII.] LEARNING AND EDUCATION. 181
struction in the monastic schools, and among the
higher class students Latin was spoken quite fami-
liarly in the schools. Much of what they wrote too
is a mixture of Gaelic and Latin ; both languages
being used with equal facility. At first the Bardic
schools taught no language but Gaelic : but later on
— under the influence of the monastic schools — they
admitted Latin and Greek among the subjects of
instruction. The graduates of each grade in the
Bardic schools had, among their other subjects, to
know a number of Romantic and Historical Tales, so
as to be able to recite any one of them when called
on, for the instruction and amusement of the com-
pany. The number was increased year after year of
the course. The Ollave had to be master of 350 ;
but these formed only a comparatively small propor-
tion of his acquirements. *
School Life and School Methods.— Some stu-
dents lived in the houses of the people of the neigh-
bourhood : "poor scholars" — as they came to be
called in later times — who, besides being taught free
in the schools, were lodged and fed without charge
in the farmers' houses all round : a hospitable custom
which continued down to a period within my own
memory, and which I saw in full work. A few
resided in the college itself ; but the body of the
scholars lived in little houses built mostly by them-
selves around and near the school. St. Mobi had
fifty students in his school at Glasnevin, near Dublin,
who had their huts ranged along one bank of the
* In. my larger work, A Social History of Ancient Ireland,
there is a detailed account of the seven degrees or stages in both
classes of schools, with their names and programmes of study.
182 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
river — the Tolka. Sometimes several lived together
in one large house. In the leading colleges, whole
streets of these houses surrounded the monastery,
forming a collegiate town.
The poorer scholars sometimes lived in the same
houses with the rich ones, whom they waited on and
served, receiving in return food, clothing, and other
necessaries ; like the American custom of the present
day. But some chose to live in this humble capacity,
not through poverty, but as a self-imposed discipline
and mortification, like Adamnan, mentioned here.
As illustrating this phase of school life, an interest-
ing story is told in the Life of King Finaghta the
Festive. A little before his accession, he was riding
one day towards Clonard with his retinue, when they
overtook a boy with a jar of milk on his back. The
youth attempting to get out of the way, stumbled and
fell, and the jar was broken and the milk spilled.
The cavalcade passed on without noticing him ; but
he ran after them in great trouble with a piece of the
jar on his back, till at last he attracted the notice of
the prince, who halted and questioned him in a good-
humoured way. The boy, not knowing whom he
was addressing, told his story with amusing plain-
ness : — " Indeed, good man, I have much cause to be
troubled. There are living in one house near the
college three noble students, and three others that
wait upon them, of whom I am one ; and we three
attendants have to collect provisions in the neigh-
bourhood in turn, for the whole six. It was my turn
to-day ; and lo, what I have obtained has been lost ;
and this vessel which I borrowed has been broken,
and I have not the means to pay for it."
CHAP. VII.] LEARNING AND EDUCATION.
183
The prince soothed him, told him his loss should
be made good, and promised to look after him in the
future. That boy was Adamnan, a descendant and
relative of princes, sub-
- sequently a most dis-
tinguished man, ninth
abbot of Iona, and the
writer of the Life of St.
Columba. The prince
was as good as his word,
and, after he became
king, invited Adamnan
to his court, where the
rising young ecclesias-
tic became his trusted
friend and spiritual
adviser.
In teaching a child
book-learning, the first
thing was, of course, the
alphabet. St. Colum-
kille's first alphabet was
written or impressed on
a cake, which he after-
wards ate. This points
to a practice, which we
sometimes see at the
present day, of writing
the alphabet, or shap-
ing it in some way, on
sweetmeats, as an encouragement and help to what
has been, and always will be, a difficult task for a
child. Sometimes they engraved the alphabet for
184 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
beginners on a large stone, of which an example is
shown in fig. 57.
It was the practice of many eminent teachers to
compose educational poems embodying the leading
facts of history, geography, or other branches of
instruction ; and a considerable proportion of the
metrical compositions preserved in our ancient books
belong to this class. These poems having been com-
mitted to memory by the scholars, were commented
on and explained by their authors.
Children received a different sort of education in
the homes of their parents or foster-parents, which
was of a very sensible kind, aiming directly at pre-
paring for the future life of the child. The sons
of the humbler ranks were to be taught how to herd
kids, calves, lambs, and young pigs; how to kiln-dry
corn, to prepare malt, to comb wool, and to cut and
split wood : the girls how to use the needle according
to their station in life, to grind corn with a quern, to
knead dough, and to use a sieve. The sons of the
chiefs were to be instructed in archery, swimming,
and chess-playing, in the use of the sword and spear,
and horsemanship : the daughters in sewing, cutting-
out, and embroidery. All this was compulsory in
case of children in fosterage.
5. The Men of Learning.
Professions Hereditary.— In ancient Ireland,
the professions almost invariably ran in families,
so that members of the same household devoted
themselves to one particular science or art — Poetry,
CHAP. VII.] LEARNING AND EDUCATION. 185
History, Medicine, Building, Law, as the case might
be — for generations.
Ollamhs or Doctors and their requirements.—
Ollamh [ollav] was the title of the highest degree in
any art or profession : thus we read of an ollave poet,
an ollave builder, an ollave goldsmith, an ollave physi-
cian, an ollave lawyer, and so forth, just as we have in
modern times doctors of law, of music, of literature,
of philosophy, of medicine, &c. In order to attain the
degree of ollave, a candidate had to graduate through
all the lower steps : and for this final degree he had
to submit his work — whether literary compositions or
any other performance — to some eminent ollave who
was selected as judge. This ollave made a report to
the king, not only on the candidate's work, but also
on his general character, whether he was upright,
free from unjust dealings, and pure in conduct and
word, i.e, free from immorality, bloodshed, and abuse
of others. If the report was favourable, the king
formally conferred the degree.
Almost every ollave, of whatever profession, kept
apprentices, who lived in his house, and who learned
their business by the teaching and lectures of the
master, by reading, and by actual practice, or seeing
the master practise ; for they accompanied him on
his professional visits. The number under some
ollaves was so large as to constitute a little school.
There was, of course, a fee ; in return for which, as
the Brehon Law expresses it : — " Instruction without
reservation, and correction without harshness, are due
from the master to the pupil, and to feed and clothe
him during the time he is at his learning." More-
over the pupil was bound to help the master in old
186 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
age if poverty came on him. The same passage in
the Brehon Law continues : — " To help him against
poverty, and to support him in old age [if necessary],
these are due from the pupil to the tutor."
Although there were ollaves of the various profes-
sions and crafts, this word " ollave" was commonly
understood to mean a doctor of Poetry, or of History,
or of both combined : for these two professions over-
lapped a good deal, and the same individual generally
professed both. A literary ollave, as a fill or poet,
was expected to be able to compose a quatrain, or
some very short poem, extemporaneously, on any
subject proposed on the moment. As a Shanachie
or Historian, the ollave was understood to be specially
learned in the History, Chronology, Antiquities, and
Genealogies of Ireland. We have already seen that
he should know by heart 350 Historical and Romantic
Stories. He was also supposed to know the pre-
rogatives, rights, duties, restrictions, tributes, &c, of
the king of Ireland, and of the provincial kings. As
a learned man he was expected to answer reasonable
questions, and explain difficulties.
These were large requirements : but then he spent
many years of preparation : and once admitted to the
coveted rank, the guerdon was splendid ; for he was
highly honoured, had many privileges, and received
princely rewards and presents. Elsewhere it is
shown that a king kept in his household an ollave
of each profession, who was well paid for his services.
The literary ollave never condescended to exercise
his profession — indeed he was forbidden to do so —
for any but the most distinguished company — kings
and chiefs and such like, with their guests. He left
CHAP. VII.] LEARNING AND EDUCATION. 187
the poets of the lower grades to attend a lower class
of people.
Poets' Yisitations and Sale of Poems.— In
Ireland the position of the poets constituted perhaps
the most singular feature of society. It had its
origin in the intense and universal veneration for
learning, which, however, as we shall see, sometimes
gave rise to unhealthful developments that affected
the daily life of all classes, but particularly of the
higher. Every ollave file was entitled to expect
and receive presents from those people of the upper
classes to whom he presented his poetical compo-
sitions : a transaction which the records openly call
" selling his poetry." The ollave poet was entitled
to go on cuairt [coort] — 'circuit' or visitation: i.e.
he went through the country at certain intervals
with a retinue of twenty-four of his disciples or
pupils, and visited the kings and chiefs one after
another, who were expected to lodge and entertain
them all for some time with lavish hospitality, and
on their departure to present the ollave with some
valuable present for his poetry ; especially one par-
ticular prepared poem eulogising the chief himself,
which was to be recited and presented immediately
on the poet's arrival.
The poet had also a right to entertainment in the
houses of public hospitality. Sometimes an ollave
poet, instead of going in person, sent round one of
his principal pupils as deputy, with his poetry, who
brought home to him the rewards. When a poet of
one of the six inferior grades went on visitation, he
was allowed a retinue, according to his rank, who
were to be entertained with him. This remarkable
188 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
custom of visitation, which is constantly mentioned
in Irish writings of all kinds, existed from the most
remote pagan times, and continued down to the
beginning of the nineteenth century.
The Satire. — The grand weapon of the poets,
by which they enforced their demands, was the aer,
a sort of satire or lampoon, which — as the people
believed — had some baleful preternatural influence
for inflicting mischief, physical or mental : so that it
was very much dreaded. A poet could compose an
aer that would blight crops, diw up milch-cows, raise
a ferb or bohj, i.e. an ulcerous blister, on the face,
and, what was perhaps worst of all, ruin character
and bring disgrace. The dread of these poetical
lampoons was as intense in the time of Spenser as
it was eight centuries before, as is shown by his
words : — " None dare displease them [the poets] for
feare to runne into reproach thorough their offence,
and to be made infamous in the mouthes of all men."
A poet — it was believed — could kill the lower
animals by an aer. A story is told of Senchan
Torpest, chief poet of Ireland, who lived in the
seventh century, that once wThen his dinner was
eaten in his absence by rats he uttered an aer on
them in his ill-humour, beginning, " Rats, though
sharp their snouts, are not powerful in battle,"
which killed ten of them on the spot. Hence it was
believed, even down to late times, that the Irish
bards could rhyme rats to death ; which is often
alluded to by Shakespeare and other English writers
of the time of Elizabeth. Some poets devoted them-
selves exclusively to the composition of satires :
these were very much dreaded and generally hated.
CHAP. VII.] LEARNING AND EDUCATION. 189
All people, high and low, had a sincere admi-
ration and respect for these poets, and, so far as
their means permitted, willingly entertained them
and gave them presents, of which we find instances
everywhere in the literature : and the law made
careful provision for duly rewarding them and pro-
tecting them from injuries. But, as might be
expected, they often abused their position and
privileges by unreasonable demands, so that many
of them, while admired for their learning, came to
be feared and hated for their arrogance.
Their oppression became so intolerable that on
three several occasions in ancient times — at long-
intervals — the people of all classes rose up against
them and insisted on their suppression. But they
were saved each time by the intervention of the men
of Ulster. The last occasion of these was at the
convention of Drum-Ketta in the year 574, during
the reign of Aed mac Ainmirech, when the king
himself and the greater part of the kings and chiefs
of Ireland determined to have the whole order sup-
pressed, and the worst among them banished the
country. But St. Columkille interposed with a
more moderate and a better proposal, which was
agreed to through his great influence. The poets
and their followers were greatly reduced in number :
strict rules were laid down for the regulation of their
conduct in the future ; and those who were fit for it,
especially the ollaves, were set to work to teach
schools, with land for their maintenance, so as to
relieve the people from their exactions.
Much has been said here about the poets that
abused their privileges. These were chiefly the
190 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
satirists, who were mostly men of sinister tendencies.
But we should glance at the other side. At all
periods of our history poets are found, of noble and
dignified character, highly learned, and ever ready to
exert their great influence in favour of manliness,
truthfulness, and justice. To these we owe a great
number of poems containing invaluable information
on the history and antiquities of the country : and
such men were at all times respected, loved, and
honoured, as will be shown in the next section.
6. Honours and Rewards for Learning.
In many other ways besides those indicated in the
preceding section, the people, both high and low,
manifested their admiration for learning, and their
readiness to reward its professors. From the period
of myth and romance down to recent times, we trace
a succession of learned men in all the professions, to
whom the Irish annals accord as honoured places as
they do to kings and warriors. An ollave sat next the
king at table : he was privileged to wear the same
number of colours in his clothes as the king and queen,
namely, six, while all other ranks had fewer. The
same compensation for injury was allowed for a king,
a bishop, and an ollave poet : and they had the same
joint at dinner, namely, the larac or haunch. We
have seen that a king kept at his court an ollave of
each profession, who held a very high position, and
had ample stipends : and once a family was selected
to supply ollaves to the king they were freed from
the customary tribute. This veneration for poets
and other learned men remained down to a late
CHAP. VII.] LEAENING AND EDUCATION. 191
period, unaffected by wars and troubles. We read
of great banquets got up on several occasions to
honour the whole body of men of learning, to which
all the professional men within reach, both in
Ireland and Scotland, were invited. Several such
banquets are commemorated in our records, and
some were on a vast scale, and lasted for many days.
But all this respect for the poet was conditional
on his observance of the rules of his order, one of
which was to maintain a high personal character for
dignity and integrity. The Senchus Mor lays down
that a fraudulent poet may be degraded, i.e. a poet
who mixes up falsehood with his compositions, or
who composes an unlawful satire, or who demands
more than his due reward.
The Anglo-Norman lords, after they had settled
down in Ireland, became as zealous encouragers of
Gaelic learning as the native nobility. They kept
moreover in their service ollaves of every profession,
brehons, physicians, etc., and remunerated them in
princely style like the native chiefs ; and they often
founded or endowed colleges.
7. The Knowledge of Science.
The pure and physical sciences, so far as they
were known in the Middle Ages, were taught in the
schools and colleges of Ireland. The success of the
home teaching appears plain from the distinction
gained by several Irishmen on the Continent for
Lheir knowledge of astronomy, as will be pointed
out farther on : knowledge not acquired abroad, but
brought from their native schools.
192 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
The Irish scholars understood astronomy; and
we have still several ancient treatises in the Irish
language, well illustrated with astronomical diagrams.
In the first poem of the Saltair-na-Rann, written
\
\
U 7 ^
Fig. 58.
Facsimile (by hand) of a diagram in an astronomical tract (about A.D. 1400) in
the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. The lower small circle is the sun (sol): the
middle small circle is the earth [terra), throwing its shadow among the stars.
probably about a.d. 1000, is an account of the
creation of the world, with a short description of
the universe, showing a knowledge of the theories —
some right, some wrong — then prevalent.
CHAP. VII.] LEARNING AND EDUCATION. 193
The various astronomical cycles were perfectly un-
derstood and were familiarly applied to calculations
in connexion with chronology and the calendar.
Among the many Irish writers who have dealt with
those matters may be mentioned Augustin, already
referred to (p. 150), who wrote his Essay on the
wonders of the Bible, while residing at Carthage.
The Irish writers were well acquainted with the
solstices, which they called by the descriptive native
Irish name grien-tairisem — so given in an eighth -
or ninth-century gloss in Zeuss — meaning ' sun-
standing ' : and they correctly state that the summer
solstice occurs on the 21st June. They had a native
name for the autumnal equinox (21st September)
which was descriptive and scientifically correct :
Deiseabhair na grene [Deshoor-na-grena], literally the
' southing or going south by the sun ' (i.e. going
south of the equinoctial), from decis, * south.'
All this shows that they understood the apparent
annual motion of the sun along the ecliptic, half the
year north, and the other half south of the equi-
noctial, and that at the autumnal equinox it enters
on the south part of its course. So, also, the real
movement of the moon, and the apparent motion of
the sun, round the earth — both from west to east —
were well understood, as appears from a remark of
one of the commentators on Dalian's " Anira on
Golumkille," that " the moon is before the sun from
the first to the fifteenth [of the moon's age], and after
the sun from the fifteenth to the first " — a perfectly
correct statement.
Irish scholars understood the use and construction
of the sundial, for which two words were used;
194 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
solam, which is a native term, and soiler, which is
borrowed and shortened from the Latin, solarium,
1 a sundial.' Besides this there is a small Irish ms.
book in the monastery of St. Gall in Switzerland,
written by some scholarly Irish monk residing there
in the eighth century, containing remarks on various
scientific subjects, such as the Cycles, the age of the
world, and, among others, on the sundial.
Virgil or Virgilius, abbot of Aghaboe in the
present Queen's County, who went to the Continent
a.d. 745, and became bishop of Salzburg, was one
of the most advanced scholars of his day. Pepin,
Mayor of the Palace, subsequently king of France,
became greatly attached to him, and kept him in the
palace for two years. Virgil taught publicly — and
was probably the first to teach — that the earth was
round, and that people lived at the opposite side — at
the antipodes. His Irish name was Fergil, which,
in a modified form, is common in Ireland to this day
(O'Farrell) : and he is commonly known in history
as Fergil the Geometer.
We have a remarkable testimony to the reputation
of Irishmen on the Continent for secular and other
learning in those early ages, in the well-known letter
written to Charlemagne by the Irish monk Dungal,
which came about in this way. It having been
stated that two solar eclipses had occurred in one
year, a.d. 810, the emperor selected Dungal, who
happened to be then in France, as the scholar con-
sidered best able to explain such an unusual occur-
rence, and requested him to do so. Dungal's reply,
which explains the matter, so far as the state of know-
ledge in his time enabled him, shows that he knew
CHAP. VII.] LEARNING AND EDUCATION. 195
of the inclination of the plane of the moon's orbit to
that of the ecliptic ; and he sets forth the astronomical
principle that for an eclipse — whether of sun or
moon— to occur, it is necessary that the moon should
be in the plane of the ecliptic. This Dungal subse-
quently resided in Italy, where he became a celebrated
teacher, drawing pupils from all the surrounding
cities ; and he also wrote learnedly on ecclesiastical
subjects.
In the year 825, an Irish scholar and traveller
named Dicuil wrote a complete Geography of the
world, so far as it was then known, which is still
extant on the Continent, and which was published
in several editions in the eighteenth century by
German and French editors.
When learning had declined in England in the
ninth and tenth centuries, owing to the devastations
of the Danes, it was chiefly by Irish teachers it was
kept alive and restored. In Glastonbury especially,
they taught with great success ; and we are told by
many English writers that "they were skilled in
every department of learning, sacred and profane" ;
and that under them were educated many young-
English nobles, sent to Glastonbury with that object.
Among these students the most distinguished was
St. Dunstan, who, according to all his biographers,
received his education, both Scriptural and secular,
from Irish masters there. One writer of his Life,
William of Malmesbury, states that Dunstan studied
diligently arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and
music under the Irish teachers, and adds that these
sciences were held in great esteem and were much
cultivated by them. Even the general mass of
o2
196 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
intelligent people made use of simple astronomical
observations in daily life. Cuculainn, sitting at a
feast, says to his attendant: — "Go out, my friend,
Loeg, observe the stars of the air, and ascertain when
midnight comes " [when Cuculainn would have to
leave]. And Loeg did so, and came back at the
proper moment to announce that it was midnight.
This record shows that all intelligent people of those
times could roughly estimate the hour of night
throughout the year by the position of the stars :
a sort of observation not at all simple, inasmuch
as the positions of the stars at given hours change
from month to month.
The age of the moon (aes esca) is mentioned in
Cormac's Glossary, as well as in many other ancient
authorities, as a matter quite familiar : and in the
Saltair na Rami it is laid down that every intelligent
person ought to know, the following five things: —
The day of the solar or ordinary month ; the age of
the moon ; the time of the flow of the tide [for those
living near the sea] ; the day of the week ; and the
chief saints' festival days.
These are a few illustrations — scattered and frag-
mentary indeed — of the eminence of ancient Irish
scholars in science. But the materials for final
judgment are not yet available ; they are still
hidden away in manuscripts among libraries all over
Europe. When they are fully brought to light,
then, and not till then, we shall be able to accord
something approaching the full meed of justice to
the learned men of ancient Ireland.
Sculpture on a Capital : Priest's House, Glendalough : Beranger, 1779.
(From Petrie's Round Towers.)
CHAPTER VIII.
IRISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE .
Section 1. Divisions and Dialects of Celtic.
Dialects. — There are two main
branches of the ancient Celtic
language : — The Goidelic, or Gaelic,
or Irish ; and the British ; correspond-
ing with the two main divisions of the
Celtic people of the British Islands.
Each of these has branched into three
dialects. Those of Gaelic are : — The Irish proper,
spoken in Ireland ; the Gaelic of Scotland, differing
only slightly from Irish ; and the Manx, which
may be said to be Irish written phonetically with
some dialectical variations. The dialects of British
are : — Welsh, spoken in Wales ; Cornish, spoken till
lately in Cornwall ; and Breton or Armoric, spoken
in Brittany.
Of the whole six dialects, five are • still spoken :
the Cornish became extinct in the eighteenth century ;
and Manx is nearly extinct. Four have an ancient
written literature : — Irish, Welsh, Cornish, and
198 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
Armoric Neither the Gaelic of Scotland nor the
Manx has an ancient literature distinct from that of
Ireland : but Scotland has a living modern literature.*
All these are derived from the Gaulish or Continental
Celtic, which in the course of ages, since the separa-
tion of the original Gaulish emigrant tribes, has
diverged into the two branches and the six dialects
named here.
Three Divisions of Irish. — Irish, like all other
living languages, has undergone great changes in
lapse of time : so that in fact the written language of
eleven or twelve hundred years ago, of which many
specimens have been preserved, is now all but
unintelligible to those who can read only modern
Irish. It is usual to divide Irish, as we find it
written, into three stages. I. Old Irish, from the
seventh or eighth to the eleventh or twelfth century.
This is the language of the Glosses, of the Irish
found in the Book of Armagh, and of some passages
in the Book of the Dun Cow ; but we have very little
Old Irish preserved in Ireland. The oldest, purest,
and most cultivated form, as found in the St. Gall and
other seventh- or eighth-century glosses, was called
the Berla fene [bairla faina], i.e. the language of the
Feini or main body of the free original inhabitants.
II. Middle Irish, from the twelfth to the fifteenth
century, marked by many departures from the Old
Irish forms. This is the language of most of our
* In Ireland a vigorous attempt is just now being made to
re-create a living written Gaelic literature, and to extend the
use of spoken Irish, and a knowledge of Irish lore in general.
There is a movement also — following the example of Ireland —
to revive Manx and Cornish.
CHAP. VIII.] IRISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 199
present important manuscripts — described farther on
fp. 208) — such as the Book of the Dun Cow, the
Book of Leinster, the Lebar Brecc, and the Book of
Ballymote. III. Modern Irish, from the fifteenth
century to the present day. This is the language of
most of the Ossianic tales. The purest specimens
are the writings of Keating, both historical and
religious. There is a vast amount of manuscript
literature in Modern Irish.
Glosses. — When transcribing or using the classics,
or the Latin version of the Scriptures, Irish pro-
fessors and teachers of the seventh, eighth, and ninth
centuries, in order to aid the Irish learners, or for
their own convenience, often wrote between the lines
or on the margin literal Irish translations of the
unusual or most difficult words of the text, or
general renderings of the sense into Gaelic phrases.
These are what are called Glosses. Numbers of
these interesting manuscripts, their pages all crowded
with glosses, are preserved to this day in many
Continental libraries, mostly written in Ireland, and
brought away to save them from destruction (see
p. 207, infra) — but some written on the Continent :
and in them are found older forms of Irish than any
we have in Ireland. Many have been recently
published, with the Latin words and passages, and
the corresponding Gaelic. It is chiefly by means of
these glosses that the ancient grammatical forms of
the language have been recovered ; and the meanings
of numbers of Irish words, long obsolete, have been
ascertained from their Latin equivalents.
It is interesting to observe that here the original
intention is reversed. The scribe wrote the Gaelic,
200 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
which was the language of his everyday life, to
explain the Latin text. But while the Latin, being
then, as now, a dead language, has remained un-
changed, the Gaelic has suffered those changes
spoken of in page 198, so that the Gaelic of the
glosses is now in many cases difficult and obscure.
Accordingly, instead of the Gaelic explaining the
Latin, we now use the Latin to explain the Gaelic.
Zeuss. — The first to make extensive use of the
glosses for these purposes was Johann Kaspar
Zeuss, a Bavarian ; born in 1806 ; died 1856. He
visited the libraries of St. Gall, Wurzburg, Milan,
Carlsruhe, Cambrai, and several other cities, in all of
which there are manuscript books with glosses in
the four Celtic dialects ; and he copied everything
that suited his purpose. He found the Irish glosses
by far the most ancient, extensive, and important of
all. Most of them belonged to the seventh or eighth
century ; some few to the beginning of the ninth.
At the end of thirteen years he produced the great
work of his life, " Grammatica Celtica," a complete
Grammar of the four ancient Celtic dialects — Irish
or Gaelic — and the three British dialects, Welsh,
Cornish, and Armoric : published 1853. It is a
closely printed book of over 1000 pages ; and it is
all written in Latin, except of course the Celtic
examples and quotations. Each of the four dialects
is treated of separately.
Zeuss was the founder of Celtic philology. The
11 Grammatica Celtica " was a revelation to scholars,
wholly unexpected ; and it gave an impetus to the
study, which has been rather increasing than
diminishing since his time. He made it plain that
CHAP. VIII.] IRISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 201
a knowledge of the Celtic languages is necessary in
order to unravel the early history of the peoples of
Western Europe. Since the time of Zeuss, many
scholarly works have been written on Celtic philo-
logy : but the " Grammatica Celtica" still stands
at the head of all.
Ancient Glossaries and Grammars.— In conse-
quence of the gradual change of the Irish language,
it became customary for native scholars of past
times, skilled in the ancient language, to write
glossaries of obsolete words to aid students in
reading very ancient manuscripts. Many of these
are preserved in our old books. The most noted
is " Cormac's Glossary," by Archbishop Cormac
Mac Cullenan, king of Cashel, who died a.d. 908.
It was translated and annotated by John O'Donovan ;
and this translation and the Irish text, with most
valuable additional notes, have been published by
Dr. Whitley Stokes. Other Glossaries are those
of Michael O'Clery, chief of the Four Masters ; of
Duald Mac Firbis, and of O'Davoren. In the Books
of Ballymote and Lecan there is a very ancient
treatise on Irish Grammar, but it has never been
translated.
But with all the aids at our command — glossaries,
glosses, translations, and commentaries — there are
many Irish pieces in the books named below (p. 208)
. that have up to the present defied the attempts of
the best Irish scholars to translate them satisfactorily,
so many old words, phrases, and allusions do they
contain whose meanings have been lost. This state
of things has been caused chiefly by the wholesale
destruction of mss. mentioned at page 206, infra.
202 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
which left great gaps, and broke the continuity of
the Irish language and literature. But the subject
is attracting more and more attention as years go by.
Great numbers of Continental scholars as well as
those of the British Isles are eagerly engaged in
studying ancient Irish texts ; year by year the diffi-
culties are being overcome ; and there is every
hope that before long we shall have translations of
most or all of these obscure old pieces.
2. Writing and Writing Materials.
Scribes. — After the time of St. Patrick, as every-
thing seems to have been written down that was
considered worth preserving, manuscripts accumu-
lated in the course of time, which were kept in
monasteries and in the houses of hereditary pro-
fessors of learning : many also in the libraries of
private persons. As there were no printed books,
readers had to depend for a supply entirely on
manuscript copies. To copy a book was justly
considered a very meritorious work, and in the
highest degree so if it was a part of the Holy
Scriptures, or of any other book on sacred or
devotional subjects, Scribes or copyists were there-
fore much honoured. The handwriting of these old
documents is remarkable for its beauty, its plainness,
and its perfect uniformity, each scribe, however,
having his own characteristic form and style.
Yellum. — Two chief materials were used in
Ireland for writing on : — Long, thin, smooth rect-
angular boards or tablets ; and vellum or parchment,
made from the skins of sheep, goats, or calves,
CHAP. VIII.] IRISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 203
which was the most usual and the most important
material. Inscriptions were also carved on stone,
both in ordinary Irish letters and in Ogham. The
scribes had to make all their own materials — tablets,
vellum, ink, and pens.
Ink (Irish dub or dubh, i.e. 'black': pron. dhuv).
The ink was made from carbon, without iron or any
other mineral, as is shown by delicate chemical
analysis. In the more ancient mss., a thick kind of
ink was used, remarkable for its intense blackness
and durability : and its excellence is proved by the
fact that in most of the very old books the writing is
almost or altogether as black as it was when written,
more than a thousand years ago. The ink was kept
in a little vessel commonly made of part of a cow's
horn, and therefore called adarcin or adircin [ey-
arkeen], meaning 'little horn,' from adarc [ey-ark],
'a horn.'
Pen. — The pens were made from the quills of
geese, swans, crows, and other birds : no metallic
pens were used. In some figures of the evangelists
drawn in mss. of the eighth century, the pens with
their feathers, and the penknife with which they
were cut, are quite plain to be seen.
Wooden Tablets. — The other materials for writ-
ing on were long, narrow, smooth, wooden slits,
called by various names : — Taibhli filidh [tav'ila-
filla], ' tablets of the poets ' ; and tabhall lorga,
1 tablet staves' (lorg, ' a staff'). On these the letters
were either written in ink or cut with a knife.
The staves were generally tied up in a bundle, so
as to be carried conveniently. The use of tablets
for writing on was not peculiar to the Irish : for it
204 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
is well known that, before parchment came into
general use, the Eomans, the Jews, and other
ancient nations inscribed their laws, poems, &c,
on wooden tablets.
Fig. 59.
From an illuminated manuscript copy of Giraldus Cambrensis, written
about A.D. 1200 : now in British Museum. Underneath is the inscription—
"The Scribe writing the Marvellous Kildare Gospels." Photographed
from reproduction in Gilbert's Facsim. Nat. MSS., and reproduced here
from the photograph.
The writing-tablets used by ecclesiastics, which
must have been similar to the poets' tablets, were
commonly known by the name of polaire (8-syll.),
a term used collectively to denote a number of single
CHAP. VIII.] IRISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 205
staves. Sometimes they were written on with ink ;
but more commonly the surface was covered with
wax, which was written on with a metallic style.
Waxed tablets were used for temporary purposes,
such as taking notes of a sermon, or other such
memorandums : when the purpose was served, the
wax was smoothed to be written on again. They
were employed also by schoolmasters in old times
for teaching their scholars the elements of reading.
Adamnan, in the seventh century, mentions that
he inscribed certain writings at first (temporarily)
on waxed tablets, and afterwards on vellum. All
literary matter intended to be permanent was written
on vellum or parchment. The use of waxed tablets
continued till the seventeenth century.
Style. —When writing on a waxed tablet, they used
a graib or graif, i.e. graphium, a sharp-pointed style
of metal, which, when not in use, was commonly
kept fastened in a loop or flap fixed on the sleeve
or on the front of the cloak. When St. Patrick was
in the act of destroying the idol, Cromm Cruach, his
graif fell out of his mantle into the heather, where
he had some difficulty in finding it afterwards.
3. Ancient Libraries.
" House of Manuscripts."— Considering the fame
of the Irish universities for learning, and the need
of books for students, it is plain that in all the
important Irish monasteries there must have been
good general libraries, including not only copies of
native Irish books, but also works in Irish and Latin
on the various branches of learning then known, and
206 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
copies of the Latin and Greek classics. The Annals
of Tigernach, who was abbot of Clonmacnoise, and
died in 1088, show that there was a well-furnished
library in that great monastery. We often find
mention of the Tech-screptra (' house of manuscripts '),
which was the Irish name of the library.
Book- Satchels. — The books in a library were
usually kept, not on shelves, but in satchels, generally
of leather, hung on pegs or racks round the walls :
each satchel containing one or more manuscript
volumes and labelled on the outside. Satchels were
very generally employed to carry books about from
place to place ; commonly slung from the shoulder
by one or more straps. Manuscripts that were
greatly valued were kept in elaborately wrought and
beautifully ornamented leather covers : of which two
are still preserved in Ireland, namely, the cover of
the Book of Armagh, which is figured in the larger
Social History, vol. i., p. 488 ; and that of the
shrine of St. Maidoc.
Destruction and Exportation of Books.— Books
abounded in Ireland when the Danes first made
their appearance, about the beginning of the ninth
century : so that the old Irish writers often speak
with pride of " the hosts of the books of Erin."
But with the first Danish arrivals began the woful
destruction of manuscripts, the records of ancient
learning. The animosity of the barbarians was
specially directed against books, monasteries, and
monuments of religion : and all the manuscripts
they could lay hold on they either burned or
" drowned" — i.e. flung them into the nearest lake
or river.
CHAP. VIII.] IRISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 207
For two centuries the destruction of manuscripts
went on : and it ceased only when the Danes were
finally crushed at Clontarf in 1014. During all this
time the Irish missionaries and scholars who went
abroad brought away great numbers of manuscripts
merely to save them from destruction. Scores of
these venerable volumes are now found in Continental
libraries : some no doubt written by Irishmen on the
spot, but most brought from Ireland. Books were
also often sent as presentations from the monasteries
at home to Continental monasteries founded by
Irishmen. The consequence of this long-continued
exportation of Irish books is that there is now a
vastly greater quantity of Irish of the ninth and
earlier centuries on the Continent than we have
in Ireland.
After the Battle of Clontarf there was a breathing-
time ; and scholars like MacKelleher, Mac Gorman,
and Mac Criffan (pp. 209, 211, infra) set to work to
rescue what was left of the old literature, collecting
the scattered fragments and copying into new
volumes everything that they could find worth pre-
serving. Numbers of such books were compiled,
and much of the learning and romance of the old
days was reproduced in the eleventh and twelfth
centuries. Notwithstanding the Danish devastations,
many of the original volumes also — written long
before the time of Mac Kelleher — still remained.
But next came the Anglo-Norman invasion, which
was quite as destructive of native learning and art
as the Danish inroads, or more so ; and most of
the new transcripts, as well as of the old volumes that
survived, were scattered and lost. The destruction
208 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
of manuscripts continued during the perpetual wars
that distracted the country, down to comparatively
recent times : and many which existed even so late
as 200 years ago are now gone. O'Curry, in the
first Lecture of his " Manuscript Materials," gives a
long list of the " Lost Books of Erin."
4. Existing Books.
Volumes of Miscellaneous Matter.— Of the
eleventh- and twelfth-century transcript volumes, por-
tions, and only portions, of just two remain — Lebar-
na-hUidhre [Lowr-na-Heera], or the Book of the
Dun Cow, and Lebar Laigen [Lowr-Lyen], or the
Book of Leinster. That these two books are copies
from older manuscripts, and not themselves original
compositions of the time, there is ample and unques-
tionable internal evidence. But it must be borne
in mind that we have many other books like the
two above mentioned, copied after 1100- from very
ancient volumes since lost. The Yellow Book of
Lecan, for example, contains pieces as old as those
in the Book of the Dun Cow — or older — though
copied at a much later period.
Most of the books alluded to here and named below
consist of miscellaneous matter : — tales, poems, bio-
graphies, genealogies, histories, annals, and so forth
— all mixed up, with scarcely any attempt at orderly
arrangement, and almost always copied from older
books. This practice of copying miscellaneous pieces
into one great volume was very common. Some of
these books were large and important literary monu-
ments, which were kept with affectionate care by
CHAP. VIII.] IRISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 209
their owners, and were celebrated among scholars as
great depositories of Celtic learning, and commonly
known by special names, such as the Ciiilmen, the
Saltair of Cashel, the Book of Cuana. The value set
on such books may be estimated from the fact that
one of them was sometimes given as ransom for a
captive chief. I will here notice a few of the most
important of those we possess— all vellum ; but there
are also many important paper manuscripts.
The oldest of all these books of miscellaneous
literature is the Lebar-na-Heera, or the Book of
the Dun Cow,* now in the Royal Irish Academy.
By " the oldest " is meant that it was transcribed
at an earlier time than any other remaining : but
some books of later transcription contain pieces quite
as old, or older. This book was written by Mailmuri
Mac Kelleher, a learned scribe, who died in Clonmac-
noise in the year 1106. An entry in his own hand-
writing shows that the book was copied from older
books. It is all through heavily glossed between the
lines, proving the great antiquity of the pieces, since
Mac Kelleher, even in 1100, found it necessary to
explain in this manner numerous old words and
phrases.
' As it now stands it consists of only 134 folio pages
— a mere fragment of the original work. It contains
sixty-five pieces of various kinds, several of which
are imperfect on account of missing leaves. There
* Irish name Lebar-na-h Uidhre ; so called because the original
manuscript of that name (which no longer exists) was written
on vellum made from the skin of St. Ciaran's pet cow at
Clonmacnoise. Irish, odhar [o-ar], a 'brown' [cow]; gen.
uidhre or h-uidlire.
210 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
are a number of romantic tales in prose ; a copy of
the celebrated Amra or Elegy on St. Columkille,
composed by Dalian Forgaill about the year 592 ; an
%<y\ tvUfntuv vie mv?o &£&^fktf
1 fate an fejfeti air> nJivSc »$T^ ot?U . C"
Atiplkb $o <&- p\ ut>? "frtff r\oiptcc<iv ti <*7
4c\;ttlu<£olmtp>
Fig. 6o.
Facsimile of part of the Book of the Dun Cow, p. 120, col. 1. (Slightly smaller
than the original.) The beginning of the story of Connla the Comely, or Connla
of the Golden Hair. (This story will be found fully translated in Joyce's Old Celtic
Romances.) This passage has no glosses.
Translation :— " The adventures of Connla the Comely, son of Conn the
Hundred-Fighter, here. Whence the name of Art the Lone one? [Art the son
of Conn, who was called ' Art the Lone One,' after his brother Connla had been
taken away by the fairy.] Not difficult to answer. On a certain day as Connla
of the Golden Hair, son of Conn the Hundred-Fighter, stood beside his father on
the Hill of Ushnagh, he saw a lady in strange attire coming towards him. Connla
spoke: 'Whence hast thou come, O lady?' he says. 'I have come,' replied the
lady, 'from the and of the ever-living, a place where there is neither death, nor
sin, nor transgression. We have continual feasts : we practise every benevolent
work without contention. We dwell in a large Shee ; and hence we are called
the People of the Fairy-Mound.' 'To whom art thou speaking, my boy?' says
Conn to his son : for no one saw the lady save Connla only."
imperfect copy of the Voyage of Maildune ; and an
imperfect copy of the Tain-bo-Quelna, with several of
the minor tales connected with it. Among the histo-
CHAP. VIII.] IRISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 211
rical and romantic tales are the Courtship of Emer ;
the Feast of Bricriu ; the Abduction of Prince Connla
the Comely by the shee or fairies ; part of the Destruc-
tion of the palace of Da Derga and the Death of
Conari, king of Ireland. The language of this book
is nearer to the pure language of the Zeussian glosses
than that of any other old book of general literature
we possess.
The Book of Leinster, the next in order of age,
now in Trinity College, Dublin, was written not later
than the year 1160, by Finn Mac Gorman, bishop of
Kildare, and by Aed Mac Criffan, tutor of Dermot
Mac Murrogh, king of Leinster. The part of the
original book remaining consists of 410 folio pages,
and contains nearly 1000 pieces of various kinds,
prose and poetry — historical sketches, romantic tales,
topographical tracts, genealogies, &c. — a vast collec-
tion of ancient Irish lore. Among its contents are
a very fine perfect copy of the Tain-bo-Quelna, a
History of the origin of the Boru Tribute, a descrip-
tion of Tara, a full copy of the Dinnsenchus or
description of the celebrated places of Erin. The
Book of Leinster is an immense volume, contain-
ing about as much matter as six of Scott's prose
novels.
The Lebar Brecc,or Speckled Book of Mac Egan,
is in the Eoyal Irish Academy. It is a large folio
volume, now consisting of 280 pages, but originally
containing many more, written in a small, uniform,
beautiful hand. The text contains 226 pieces, with
numbers of marginal and interlined entries, generally
explanatory or illustrative of the text. The book
was copied from various older books, most of them
p2
212 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
now lost. All, both text and notes, with a few ex-
ceptions, are on religious subjects : there is a good
deal of Latin mixed with the Irish. Among the
pieces are the Feilire of Aengus the Culdee, Lives of
SS. Patrick, Brigit, and Columkille, and a Life of
Alexander the Great.
The Book of Bally mote, in the Royal Irish
Academy, is a large folio volume of 501 pages. It
was written by several scribes about the year 1391,
at Ballymote in Sligo, from older books, and con-
tains a great number of pieces in prose and verse.
Among them is a copy of the ancient Book of Inva-
sions, i.e., a history of the Conquests of Ireland by
the several ancient colonists. There are genealogies
of almost all the principal Irish families ; several
historical and romantic tales of the early Irish kings ;
a history of the most remarkable women of Ireland
down to the English invasion ; an Irish translation
of Nennius' History of the Britons ; a copy of the
Dinnsenchus ; a translation of the Argonautic Expe-
dition, and of the War of Troy.
The Yellow Book of Lecan [Leckan], in Trinity
College, is a large quarto volume of about 500 pages.
It was written at Lecan in the county Sligo, in or
about the year 1390, by two of the scholarly family
of Mac Firbis— Donagh and Gilla Isa. It contains a
great number of pieces in prose and verse, historical,
biographical, topographical, &c. ; among them the
Battle of Moyrath, the Destruction of Bruden Da
Derga, an imperfect copy of the Tain-bo-Quelna,
and the Voyage of Maildune.
The five books above described have been published
in facsimile without translations — but with valuable
CHAP. VIII.] IRISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. - 213
introductions, and full descriptions of contents — by
the Royal Irish Academy, page for page, line for line,
letter for letter. Next to the publication of the
Grammatica Celtica, the issue of these facsimiles
was the greatest stimulus in modern times to the
elucidation of ancient Gaelic lore : for scholars in all
parts of the world can now study those five old books
without coming to Dublin.
The Book of Lecan, in the Eoyal Irish Academy,
about 600 vellum pages, was written in 1416, chiefly
by Gilla Isa Mor Mac Firbis. The contents
resemble in a general way those of the Book of
Ballymote.
There are many other books of miscellaneous
Gaelic literature in the Royal Irish Academy and in
Trinity College, such as the Book of Lismore, the
Book of Fermoy, the Book of Hy Many ; besides
numbers of books without special names. There
are also numerous ms. volumes devoted to special
subjects, such as Law, Medicine, Astronomy, and so
forth, as will be found mentioned elsewhere in this
book.
The vast mass of Irish literature sketched in this
section is to be found in manuscripts, not in any one
library ; but scattered over almost all the libraries of
Europe. The two most important collections are
those in Trinity College and in the Royal Irish
Academy, Dublin, where there are manuscripts of
various ages, from the sixth or seventh down to the
nineteenth century. In the Franciscan Monastery of
Adam and Eve, Dublin, and in Maynooth College, are
a number of valuable manuscripts ; and there are
also many important Irish manuscripts in the British
214 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
Museum in London ; in the Bodleian Library at
Oxford ; and in the Advocates' Library in Edinburgh ;
besides the numerous mss. in Continental libraries.
Classification of Subject-Matter. — Irish litera-
ture, so far as it has been preserved, may be classed
as follows : —
I. Ecclesiastical and Eeligious writings.
II. Annals, History, and Genealogy.
III. Tales — Historical and Eomantic.
IV. Law, Medicine, and Science.
V. Translations or versions from other lan-
guages— Latin, Greek, French, &c.
Translations. — As to this last class : it is enough
to say here that there is an immense amount of
translation into Irish, of romance, history, science,
biography, medicine, and sacred subjects, from
Latin, French, Spanish, and other languages. That
such a mass of translation exists in Irish manuscripts
shows — if there was need to show — the lively literary
curiosity and the intense love of knowledge of every
kind of the ancient Irish scholars. Apart from their
literary aspect, these translations are of the highest
value to students of the Irish language, as enabling
them to determine the meaning of many obsolete
Gaelic words and phrases.
• 5. Irish Poetry and Prosody.
As a large part of Irish literature has been
handed down to us in the form of verse, it will
be proper to say something here about Irish Poetry
and its laws.
CHAP. VIII.] IRISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 215
In very early times, not only poetry proper, but
histories, biographies, laws, genealogies, and such
like, were often written in verse as an aid to the
memory. Among all peoples there were — as there
are still— certain laws or rules, commonly known as
Prosody, which poets had to observe in the construc-
tion of their verse : of which the main object was
harmony of numbers. The classification and the
laws of Irish versification were probably the most
complicated that were ever invented : indicating on
the part of the ancient Irish people, both learned
and unlearned, a delicate appreciation of harmonious
combinations of sounds.
That the old writers of verse were able to comply
with their numerous difficult prosodial rules we have
positive proof in our manuscripts ; and the result is
marvellous. No poetry of any European language,
ancient or modern, could compare with that of Irish
for richness of melody. Well might Dr. Atkinson
exclaim (in his Lecture on "Irish Metric"): — "I
believe Irish verse to have been about the most per-
fectly harmonious combination of sounds that the
world has ever known. I know of nothing in the
world's literature like it."
Of each principal kind or measure of verse there
were many divisions and subdivisions, comprising
altogether several hundred different metrical varieties,
all instantly distinguishable by the trained ears of
poet and audience.
Some of the greatest Celtic scholars that ever
lived — among them Zeuss and Nigra — maintain that
rhyme, now so common in all European languages,
originated with the old Irish poets, and that from
216 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
the Irish language it was adopted into Latin, from
which it gradually penetrated to other languages, till
it finally spread over all Europe. One thing is
quite certain, that rhyme — as we have already said —
was brought to far greater perfection in Irish than in
any other language.
The great majority of the ancient Irish poetical
pieces — poetry in the true sense of the word — are
still hidden away in manuscripts scattered through
the libraries of all Europe. The few that have been
brought to light show that many of the ancient Irish
poets were inspired with true poetical genius : but
sufficient materials are not yet available to enable
us to pass a general judgment on the character
of early Irish poetry. Most of these pieces are
characterised by one prevailing note — a close obser-
vation and an intense love of nature in all its
aspects. This characteristic of the Irish people
will be treated of in a section of chapter xxvi.
Among the remains of later times — from the
fifteenth century down — we have many pieces of
great beauty — odes, ballads, elegies, songs, &c.
In modern Irish poetry the old prosodial rules
are almost wholly disregarded. The rhymes are
assonantal, and very frequent : they occur not only
at the ends of the lines but within them — sometimes
once, sometimes twice ; and not unfrequently the
same rhyme runs through several stanzas. In other
respects modern Irish poetry generally follows the
metrical construction of English verse.
Sculpture on Window: Cathedral Church, Gleridalough : Beranger, 1779.
(From Petrie's Round Towers.)
CHAPTEK IX.
ECCLESIASTICAL AND RELIGIOUS WHITINGS.
opies of the Gospels or of other
portions of Scripture, that were
either written or owned by eminent
saints of the early Irish Church,
were treasured with great venera-
tion by succeeding generations ;
and it became a common practice to
enclose them, for better preservation, in
ornamental boxes or shrines. Many shrines with
their precious contents are still preserved : they are
generally of exquisite workmanship in gold, silver,
or other metals, precious stones, and enamel. Books
of this kind are the oldest we possess.
The Domnach Airgid, or ' Silver Shrine,' which
is in the National Museum, Dublin, is a box con-
taining a Latin copy of the Gospels written on
vellum. It was once thought that the enclosed
book was the identical copy of the Gospels presented
by St. Patrick to St. Mac Carthenn of Clogher ; but
recent investigations go to show that it is not so old
as the time of the great apostle.
218 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
The Book of Kells is the most remarkable book
of this class, though not the oldest. A description
of it will be found farther on, in the chapter on
Irish Art.
The Cathach [Caha] or Battle-Book of the
O'Donnells. This is a copy of the Psalms, enclosed
in a beautifully wrought case of gilt silver, enamel,
and precious stones, which is now preserved in the
National Museum in Dublin. The O'Donnells of
Tirconnell always brought it with them to battle,
hoping by means of it to obtain victory (p. 65,
above). In Trinity College, Dublin, are two beau-
tiful shrines enclosing two illuminated Gospel
manuscripts, the Book of Dimma, and the Book
of St. Moling, both written in the seventh or
eighth century.
The Book of Armagh, now in Trinity College,
for beauty of execution stands only second to the
Book of Kells, and occasionally exceeds it in fineness
and richness of ornamentation. The learned and
accomplished scribe of this book was Ferdomnach
of Armagh, who finished it in 807, and died in 845.
It is chiefly in Latin, with a good deal of Old Irish
interspersed. It opens with a Life of St. Patrick.
Following this are a number of notes of the Life
and acts of the saint, compiled by Bishop Tirechan,
who himself received them from his master Bishop
Ultan, of the seventh century ; a complete copy of
the New Testament ; and a Life of St. Martin of
Tours. Perhaps the most interesting part of the
whole manuscript is what is now commonly known
as St. Patrick's Confession, in which the saint gives
a brief account, in simple Latin, of his captivity, his
CHAP. IX.] ECCLESIASTICAL AND RELIGIOUS WRITINGS. 219
escape from slavery, his return to Ireland, the hard-
ships and dangers he encountered, and the final
success of his mission. It appears that Ferdomnach
had before him a book in the very handwriting
of the great apostle, from which he copied the
Confession. This venerable book is now about to
be published. Other Latin-Irish books of this class
still preserved are mentioned below in the chapter
on Art.
We have a vast body of original ecclesiastical
and religious writings. Among them are the LiYes
of a great many of the most distinguished
Irish saints, mostly in Irish, some few in Latin,
some on vellum, some on paper, of various ages,
from the seventh century down to the eighteenth.
Of these the best-known is the " Tripartite Life of
St. Patrick," so called because it is divided into
three Parts. It is in Irish, mixed here and there
with words and sentences in Latin. It was written,
so far as can be judged, in the ninth or tenth
century, on the authority of, and partly copied
from, older books. It has been lately printed in
two volumes, with translations and elaborate and
valuable introduction and notes, by Dr. Stokes.
Besides the Irish Lives of St. Columkille, there is
one in Latin, written by Adamnan, who died in the
year 703. He was a native of Donegal, and ninth
abbot of Iona ; and his memoir has been pronounced
by the learned Scotch writer Pinkerton — who is
not given to praise Irish things — to be "the most
complete piece of such biography that all Europe
can boast of, not only at so early a period, but even
through the whole Middle Ages." It has been
220 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
published by the Eev. Dr. William Beeves, who,
in his Introduction and Notes, supplies historical,
local, and biographical information drawn from every
conceivable source.
In the year 1645 the Eev. John Colgan, a Fran-
ciscan friar, a native of Donegal, published at Lou-
vain, where he then resided in the Irish monastery
of that city, a large volume entitled " Acta Sancto-
rum Hiberniae," the ' Lives of the Saints of Ireland,'
all in Latin, translated by himself from ancient
Irish manuscripts. In 1647 he published another
volume, also in Latin, devoted to Saints Patrick,
Brigit, and Columkille, and consisting almost entirely
of translations of all the old Irish Lives of these
three saints that he could find. Both volumes are
elaborately annotated by the learned editor ; and text
and notes— all in Latin — contain a vast amount of
biographical, historical, topographical, and legendary
information.
Another class of Irish ecclesiastical writings are
the Calendars, or Marty rologies, or Festilogies —
Irish, Feilire [fail'ira], a festival list. The Feilire
is a catalogue of saints, arranged according to their
festival days, with usually a few facts about each,
briefly stated, but with no detailed memoirs. One
of these, commonly known as the Martyrology of
Donegal, was compiled by Michael O'Clery, the chief
of the Four Masters. It has been published with
translation by Drs. O'Donovan, Todd, and Eeeves.
Another — the most elaborate and important of all —
is the Feilire or Calendar of Aengus the Culdee, who
wrote it about the year 800. The body of the poem
consists of 365 quatrain stanzas, one for each day in
CHAP. IX.] ECCLESIASTICAL AND RELIGIOUS WRITINGS. 221
the year, each stanza commemorating one or more
saints — chiefly but not exclusively Irish — whose festi-
vals occur on the particular day. But there are also
prefaces and a great collection of glosses and com-
mentaries, all in Irish, interspersed with the text ;
Fig. 6i.
Church and (imperfect) Round Tower of Dysert-Aengus, one mile west of
Croom in Limerick, where St. Aengus the Culdee founded a church about
A.D. 800. (From Mrs. Hall*s Ireland.)
and all written by various persons who lived after
the time of Aengus. The whole Feilire, with Pre-
faces, Glosses, and Commentaries, has been trans-
lated and edited, with learned notes, by Dr. Whitley
Stokes. The Saltair na Rann, i.e. the 'Psalter
of the Quatrains,' consists of 162 short Irish poems
222 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
on sacred subjects. The whole collection has been
published by Dr. Whitley Stokes, with glossary of
words, but without translation.
The Book of Hymns is one of the manuscripts in
Trinity College, Dublin, copied at some time not
later than the ninth or tenth century. It consists of
a number of hymns — some in Latin, some in Irish
— composed by the primitive saints of Ireland — St.
Sechnall, St. Ultan, St. Cummain Fada, St. Columba,
and others — with Prefaces, Glosses, and Commen-
taries, mostly in Irish, by ancient copyists and
editors. It has been published in two editions ; one
by the Rev. Dr. Todd ; the other by the Rev. Dr.
Bernard, f.t.c.d., and Dr. Robert Atkinson.
Another ecclesiastical relic belonging to Ireland
should be mentioned — the Antiphonary, or Hymn
Book, of St. Comgall's monastery of Bangor, in the
County Down, written in this monastery about a.d.
680. In order to save it from certain destruction by
the Danes, it was brought to the Continent, probably
by the learned monk Dungal, already mentioned
(page 194). After lying hidden and neglected for a
thousand years, it was found at last in Bobbio ; and
it has since been several times published.
There are manuscripts on various other ecclesi-
astical subjects scattered through libraries — canons
and rules of monastic life, prayers and litanies,
hymns, sermons, explanations of the Christian
mysteries, commentaries on the Scriptures, &c. —
many very ancient. Of the numerous modern
writings of this class, I will specify only two, written
in classical modern Irish about the year 1630 by
the Rev. Geoffrey Keating : — the " Key- shield of the
CHAP. IX.] ECCLESIASTICAL AND RELIGIOUS WRITINGS. 228
Mass" and the " Three Shafts of Death." This
last has been edited with a Glossary, but without
translation, by Dr. Eobert Atkinson.
These are only a few of the existing Irish ecclesi-
astical works : there are many others in the libraries
of Great Britain and the Continent.
Writers of sacred history sometimes illustrated
their narratives with rude pen-and-ink sketches of
Fig. 62.
Noah's Ark : reduced from the larger sketch on a fly-leaf of the Book
of Ballyinote. (From Kilk. Archseol. Journ.)
Biblical subjects, of which an example is given here
— a quaint figure of Noah's Ark drawn on a fly-leaf
of the Book of Ballymote in the fourteenth century.
\ i.
Sculpture on a Capital : Priest's House, Glendalough : Beranger. 1779.
(From Petrie's Round Towers.)
CHAPTER X.
ANNALS, HISTORIES, AND GENEALOGIES.
Section 1. How the Annals were compiled.
mong the various classes of persons who
devoted themselves to literature
„ P in ancient Ireland, there were
iff --:' special Annalists, who made it
m their business to record, with the utmost
accuracy, all remarkable events simply
\^ and briefly, without any ornament of language,
^ without exaggeration, and without fictitious
embellishment. The extreme care they took that
their statements should be truthful is shown by the
manner in which they compiled their books. As a
general rule they admitted nothing into their records
except either what occurred during their lifetime,
and which may be said to have come under their own
personal knowledge, or what they found recorded in
the compilations of previous annalists, who had
themselves followed the same plan. These men
took nothing on hearsay : and in this manner
successive annalists carried on a continued chronicle
CHAP. X.] ANNALS, HISTORIES, AND GENEALOGIES. 225
from age to age, thus giving the whole series the
force of contemporary testimony.*
We have still preserved to us many books of
native Annals, the most important of which will be
briefly described in this chapter. Most of the ancient
manuscripts whose entries are copied into the books
of Annals we now possess have been lost ; but that
the entries were so copied is rendered quite certain
by various expressions found in the present existing
Annals, as well as by the known history of several of
the compilations.
The Irish Annals deal with the affairs of Ireland—
generally but not exclusively. Many of them record
events occurring in other parts of the world ; and it
was a common practice to begin the work with a brief
general history, after which the Annalist takes up
the affairs of Ireland.
2. Tests of Accuracy.
Physical Phenomena.— There are many tests of
the accuracy of our records, of which I will here
notice three classes : physical phenomena, such as
eclipses and comets : the testimony of foreign writers :
and the consistency of the records among themselves.
Whenever it happens that we are enabled to apply
tests belonging to any one of these three classes —
and it happens very frequently — the result is almost
invariably a vindication of the accuracy of the records.
* Of course it is not claimed for the Irish Annals that they are
ahsolutely free from error. In the early parts there is much
legendary matter; and some errors have crept in among the
records belonging to the historical period.
Q
226 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
The Irish Annals record about twenty-five eclipses
and comets at the several years from a.d. 496 to 1066.
The dates of all these are found, according to
modern scientific calculation and the records of other
countries, to be correct. This shows conclusively
that the original records were made by eye-witnesses,
and not by calculation in subsequent times : for any
such calculation would be sure — on account of errors
in the methods then used — to give an incorrect
result.
A well-known entry in the Irish account of the
Battle of Clontarf, fought a.d. 1014, comes under
the tests of natural phenomena. The author of the
account, who wrote soon after the battle, states
that it was fought on Good Friday, the 23rd of
April, 1014 ; and that it began at sunrise, when the
tide was full in. To test the truth of this, the
Rev. Dr. Todd, of Trinity College, Dublin, asked the
Eev. Samuel Haughton, a great science scholar, to
calculate the time of high water in Dublin Bay on
the 23rd April, 1014. After a laborious calculation,
Dr. Haughton found that the tide was at its height
that morning at half-past five o'clock, just as the sun
was coming over the horizon : a striking confirma-
tion of the truth of this part of the narrative.
It shows, too, that the account was written by, or
taken down from, an eye-witness of the battle.
Testimony of Foreign Writers.— Whenever
events occurring in Ireland in the Middle Ages are
mentioned by British or Continental writers they are
always — or nearly always — in agreement with the
native records. Irish bardic history relates in much
detail how the Picts landed on the coast of Leinster
CHAP. X.] ANNALS, HISTORIES, AND GENEALOGIES. 227
in the reign of Eremon, the first Milesian king of
Ireland, many centuries before the Christian era.
After some time they sailed to Scotland to conquer
a territory for themselves: but before embarking
they asked Eremon to give them Irish women for
wives, which he did, but only on this condition,
that the right of succession to the kingship should
be vested in the female progeny rather than in the
male. And so the Picts settled in Scotland with
their wives. Now all this is confirmed by the
Venerable Bede, who says that the Picts obtained
wives from the Scots (i.e. the Irish) on condition
that when any difficulty arose they should choose
a king from the female royal line rather than from
the male; "which custom," continues Bede, "has
been observed among them to this day." We have
already seen (p. 37, supra) that the Irish accounts
of the colony led by Carbery Biada to Scotland in the
third century of the Christian era have been confirmed
by the Venerable Bede.
All the Irish Annals record a great defeat of the
Danes near Killarney in the year 812. This account
is fully borne out by an authority totally uncon-
nected with Ireland, the well-known Book of Annals,
written by Eginhard (the tutor of Charlemagne),
who was living at this very time. Under a.d. 812
he writes : — " The fleet of the Northmen, having
invaded Hibernia, the island of the Scots, after
a battle had been fought with the Scots, and after
no small number of the Norsemen had been slain,
they basely took to flight and returned home."
Several other examples of a similar kind might be
quoted.
Q2
228 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
Consistency of the Records among themselves.
Testimonies under this heading might be almost
indefinitely multiplied. References by Irishmen to
Irish affairs are found in numerous volumes scattered
over all Europe : — Annalistic entries, direct state-
ments in tales and biographies, marginal notes,
incidental references to persons, places, and customs,
and so forth, written by various men at various times ;
which, when compared one with another, and with
the home records, hardly ever exhibit a disagreement.
The more the ancient historical records of Ireland
are examined and tested, the more their truthfulness
is made manifest. Their uniform agreement among
themselves, and their accuracy, as tried by the
ordeals of astronomical calculation and of foreign
writers' testimony, have drawn forth the acknowledg-
ments of the greatest Irish scholars and archaeologists
that ever lived. These men knew what they were
writing about ; and it is instructive, and indeed
something of a warning to us, to mark the sober and
respectful tone in which they speak of Irish records,
occasionally varied by an outburst of admiration as
some unexpected proof turns up of the faithfulness
of the old Irish writers and the triumphant manner
in which they come through all ordeals of criticism.
3. Principal Booh of Annals,
The following are the principal books of Irish
Annals remaining. The Synchronisms of Flann,
who was a layman, Ferleginn or chief professor
of the school of Monasterboice ; died in 1056. He
compares the chronology of Ireland with that of other
CHAP. X.] ANNALS, HISTORIES, AND GENEALOGIES. 229
countries, and gives the names of the monarchs that
reigned in the principal ancient kingdoms and
empires of the world, with the Irish kings who
reigned contemporaneously. Copies of this tract are
preserved in the Books of Lecan and Ballymote.
The Annals of Tighernach [Teerna]. Tigher-
nach O'Breen, the compiler of these annals, one of
the greatest scholars of his time, was abbot of the
two monasteries of Clonmacnoise and Roscommon.
He was acquainted with the chief historical writers
of the world known in his day, compares them, and
quotes from them ; and he made use of Flann's
Synchronisms, and of most other ancient Irish his-
torical writings of importance. His work is written
in Irish mixed a good deal with Latin ; it has lately
been translated by Dr. Stokes. He states that
authentic Irish history begins at the foundation of
Emania, and that all preceding accounts are uncer-
tain. Tighernach died in 1088.
The Annals of Innisfallen were compiled about
the year 1215 by some scholars of the monastery of
Innisfallen, in the Lower Lake of Killarney.
The Annals of Ulster were written in the little
island of Senait Mac Manus, now called Belle Isle,
in Upper Lough Erne. The original compiler was
Cathal [Cahal] Maguire, who died of small-pox in
1498. They have lately been translated and pub-
lished.
The Annals of Lough Ce [Key] were copied in
1588 for Bryan Mac Dermot, who had his residence
on an island in Lough Key, in Roscommon. They
have been translated and edited in two volumes.
The Annals of Connaught from 1221 to 1562.
230 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
The Chronicon Scotorum (Chronicle of the
Scots or Irish), down to a.d. 1135, was compiled
about 1650 by the great Irish antiquary Duald
Mac Firbis. These annals have been printed with
translation.
The Annals of Boyle, from the earliest time
to 1253, are written in Irish mixed with Latin ; and
the entries throughout are very meagre.
The Annals of Clonmacnoise from the earliest
period to 1408. The original Irish of these is lost ; but
we have an English translation by Connell Mac Geo-
ghegan of Westmeath, which he completed in 1627.
The Annals of the Four Masters, also called the
Annals of Donegal, are the most important of all.
They were compiled in the Franciscan monastery of
Donegal, by three of the O'Clerys, Michael, Conary,
and Cucogry, and by Ferfesa O'Mulconry, who are
now commonly known as the Four Masters. They
began in 1632, and completed the work in 1636.
" The Annals of the Four Masters" was translated
with most elaborate and learned annotations by
Dr. John O'Donovan ; and it was published — Irish
text, translation, and notes — in seven large volumes.
A book of annals called the Psalter of Cashel
was compiled by Cormac Mac Cullenan, but this has
been lost. He also wrote " Cormac's Glossary," an
explanation of many old Irish words. This work
has been translated and printed : see p. 201, above.
The Annals noticed so far are all in the Irish lan-
guage, occasionally mixed with Latin : but besides
these there are Annals of Ireland wholly in Latin ;
such as those of Clyn, Dowling, Pembridge, Multy-
farnham, &c, most of which have been published.
CHAP. X.] ANNALS, HISTORIES, AND GENEALOGIES. 231
4. Histories : Genealogies : Dinnsenclms.
Histories. — None of the Irish writers of old times
conceived the plan of writing a general history of
Ireland. The first history of the whole country was
Fig. 63.
Tubbrid Church, the burial-place of the Rev. Geoffrey Keating, as it appeared
in 1845. (From Mrs. Hall's Ireland.) The exact spot in this graveyard where he
is interred is not known but he is commemorated in a Latin inscription on a
tablet over the door of the church (seen in the illustration).
the Forus Feasa ar Erinn, or History of Ireland,
from the most ancient times to the Anglo-Norman
invasion, written by Dr. Geoffrey Keating of Tubbrid
in Tipperary, a Catholic priest : died 1644. Keating-
was deeply versed in the ancient language and
232 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II,
literature of Ireland ; and his history, though con-
taming much that is legendary, is very interesting
and valuable.
Genealogies. — The genealogies of the principal
families were most faithfully preserved in ancient
Ireland. Each king and chief had in his household
a Shanachy or historian, whose duty it was to
keep a written record of all the ancestors and of the
several branches of the family.
Many of the ancient genealogies are preserved in
the Books of Leinster, Lecan, Ballymote, &c. But
the most important collection of all is the great Book
of Genealogies compiled in the years 1650 to 1666 in
the College of St. Nicholas in Galway, byDuald Mac
Firbis.
In this place may be mentioned the Dinnsenchus
[Dm-Shan'ahus], a topographical tract giving the
legendary history and the etymology of the names of
remarkable hills, mounds, caves, earns, cromlechs,
raths, duns, plains, lakes, rivers, fords, islands, and
so forth. The stories are mostly fictitious — invented
to suit the really existing names : nevertheless this
tract is of the utmost value for elucidating the topo-
graphy and antiquities of the country. Copies of it
are found in several of the old Irish books of miscel-
laneous literature, as already mentioned.
Another very important tract — one about the names
of remarkable Irish persons, called Coir Anmann
(' Fitness of Names'), corresponding with the Dinn-
senchus for place-names, has been published with
translation by Dr, Stokes.
Sculpture on 'Window: Cathedral Church, Glendalough ; geranger, 1779.
(From Petrie's Round Towers.)
CHAPTEE XI.
HISTORICAL AND ROMANTIC TALES.
Section 1. Classes, Lists, and Numbers.
yen from the most remote times, beyond
the ken of history, the Irish people,
like those of other countries, had
stories, which, before the introduction
of the art of writing, were transmitted
orally, and modified, improved, and
enlarged as time went on, by successive shanachies,
or * storytellers.' They began to be written down
when writing became general : and a careful exami-
nation of their structure, and of the language in
which they are written, has led to the conclusion
that the main tales assumed their present forms in
the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries ; while the
originals from which they sprang are much older.
Once they began to be written down, a great body
of romantic and historical written literature rapidly
accumulated, .consisting chiefly of prose tales. Of
many of the tales we have, in the Book of the Dun
Cow, and the Book of Leinster, copies made in
234 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART, [PART II.
the eleventh and twelfth centuries ; and there are
numerous others in manuscripts copied by various
scribes from that period to the present century, many
of them from original volumes older than the Book
of the Dun Cow.
In the Book of Leinster there is a very interesting
List of the classes to which the ancient historical
tales belong, with a number of individual tales
named under each class as examples, numbering
altogether 187. This List is as follows (with a
few additions from other sources): — 1. Battles:
2. Imrama, Navigations, or Voyages : 3. Tragedies :
4. Adventures : 5. Cattle-raids : 6. Hostings or
Military Expeditions : 7. Courtships : 8. Elope-
ments : 9. Caves or Hidings (i.e. adventures of
persons hiding for some reason in caves or other
remote places) : 10. Destructions (of palaces, &c.) :
11. Sieges or Encampments : 12. Feasts : 13.
Slaughters : 14. Pursuits : 15. Visions : 16. Exiles
or Banishments : 17. Lake Eruptions.
We have in our old books stories belonging to
every one of these classes. The whole number now
existing in mss. is close on 600 : of which about 150
have been published and translated. But outside
these, great numbers have been lost : destroyed
during the Danish and Anglo-Norman wars.
2. Chronological Cycles of the Tales.
Most of the Irish Tales fall under four main
cycles of History and Legend, which, in all the
Irish poetical and romantic literature, were kept
q_uite distinct.
CHAP. XI.] HISTORICAL AND ROMANTIC TALES. 235
1. The Mythological Cycle, the stories of which
are concerned with the mythical colonies preceding
the Milesians, especially the Dedannans. The
heroes of the Tales belonging to this cycle, who
are assigned to periods long before the Christian
era, are gods, namely, the gods of the pagan Irish.
2. The Cycle of Concobar mac Nessa and his
Red Branch Knights, who nourished in the first
century.
3. The Cycle of the Fena of Erin, belonging
to a period two centuries later than those of the
Bed Branch.
4. Stories founded on events that happened after
the dispersal of the Fena (in the end of the third
century, p. 45, supra), such as the Battle of Moyrath
(a.d. 637), most of the Visions, &c.
The stories of the Red Branch Knights form the
finest part of our ancient Romantic Literature. The
most celebrated of all these is the Tain-bo -Cuailnge
[Quelne], the epic of Ireland. Medb [Maive], queen
of Connaught, who resided in her palace of Croghan,
set out with her army for Ulster on a plundering
expedition, attended by all the great heroes of
Connaught, and by an Ulster contingent who had
enlisted in her service. The invading army en-
tered that part of Ulster called Cuailnge or Cooley,
the principality of the hero Cuculainn, the north
part of the present county Louth, including the
Carlingford peninsula. At this time the Ulstermen
were under a spell of feebleness, all but Cuculainn,
who had to defend single-handed the several fords
and passes, in a series of single combats, against
Maive's best champions. She succeeded in this
236 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
first raid, and brought away a great brown bull —
which was the chief motive of the expedition —
with flocks and herds beyond number. At length
the Ulstermen, having been freed from the spell,
attacked and routed the Connaught army. The
battles, single combats, and other incidents of this
war, form the subject of the Tain, which consists of
one main epic story with about thirty shorter tales
grouped round it. It has lately been translated into
English by Miss L. Winifred Faraday, and into
German by the great Celtic scholar Windisch. For
the chief Eed Branch heroes, see p. 39, above.
Of the Cycle of Finn and the Fena of Erin we
have a vast collection of stories. The chief heroes
under Finn have been already mentioned (p. 43).
The Tales of the Fena, though not so old as those
of the Eed Branch Knights, are still of great
antiquity : for some of them are found in the Book
of the Dun Cow and in the Book of Leinster, copied
from older volumes.
3. General Character of the Tales.
Some of the tales are historical, i.e. founded on
historical events — history embellished with some
fiction ; while others are altogether fictitious — pure
creations of the imagination. From this great body
of stories it would be easy to select a large number,
powerful in conception and execution, high and
dignified in tone and feeling, all inculcating truth-
fulness and manliness, many of them worthy to
rank with the best literature of their kind in any
language, The stories of the Sons of Usna, the
CHAP. XI.] HISTORICAL AND ROMANTIC TALES. 237
Children of Lir, the Fingal Ronain, the Voyage of
Maeldune, Da Derga's Hostel, the Boronia, and the
Fairy Palace of the Quicken Trees — all of which
have been published with translations — are only a
few instances in point.
As to the general moral tone of the ancient Irish
tales, it is to be observed that in all early literatures,
Irish among the rest, there is much plain speaking
of a character that would now be considered coarse,
and would not be tolerated in our present social and
domestic life. But on the score of morality and
purity the Irish tales can compare favourably with
the corresponding literature of other countries ; and
they are much freer from objectionable matter than
the works of many of those early English and
Continental authors which are now regarded as
classics.
In this respect "The Colloquy of the Ancient
Men" may be taken as a typical example. It-
consists of a series of short stories, of which the
great Irish scholar Dr. Whitley Stokes says : — " The
tales are generally told with sobriety and directness :
they evince genuine feeling for natural beauty, a
passion for music, a moral purity, singular in a
mediaeval collection of stories, a noble love of man-
liness and honour." On the same point Professor
Kuno Meyer justly remarks : — " The literature of
no nation is free from occasional grossness ; and
considering the great antiquity of Irish literature,
and the primitive life which it reflects, what will
strike an impartial observer most is not its license
or coarseness, but rather the purity, loftiness, and
tenderness which pervade it."
238 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART It.
4. Story -telling and Recitation.
The tales were brought into direct touch with the
people, not by reading — for there were few books
outside libraries, and few people were able to read
them — but by recitation : and the Irish of all classes,
like the Greeks, were excessively fond of hearing
tales and poetry recited. There were professional
shanachies and poets whose duty it was to know by
heart numerous old tales, poems, and historical
pieces, and to recite them, at festive gatherings, for
the entertainment of the chiefs and their guests :
and every intelligent person was supposed to know a
reasonable number of them, so as to be always ready
to take a part in amusing and instructing his
company. The tales of those times correspond with
the novels and historical romances of our own day,
and served a purpose somewhat similar. Indeed
they served a much higher purpose than the
generality of our novels ; for in conjunction with
poetry they were the chief agency in education —
education in the best sense of the word — a real
healthful informing exercise for the intellect. They
conveyed a knowledge of history and geography, and
they inculcated truthful and honourable conduct.
Moreover, this education was universal ; for though
few could read, the knowledge and recitation of
poetry and stories reached the whole body of the
people. This ancient institution of story-telling
held its ground both in Ireland and Scotland down
to a period within living memory.
Sculpture on a Capita of the Church of the Monastery, Glcndalough. Beranger, 1779.
(From Petrie's Round Towers.)
CHAPTER XII.
ART.
Section 1. Penwork and Illumination,
Ireland art was practised chiefly in four
different branches : — Ornamentation
and Illumination of Manuscript-books :
Metal - work : Stone -carving : and
Building. In Leather-work also the
Irish artists attained to great skill,
as we may see in several beautiful
specimens of book-binding still preserved. Some
branches of art were cultivated — as we shall see —
in pagan Ireland ; but art in general reached its
highest perfection in the period between the end of
the ninth and the beginning of the twelfth century.
The special style of pen ornamentation, which in
its most advanced stage is quite characteristic of the
Celtic people of Ireland, was developed in the course
of centuries by successive generations of artists who
brought it to marvellous perfection. Its most
240 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
marked characteristic is interlaced work formed by
bands and ribbons, which are curved and twisted and
interwoven in the most intricate way, something
like basket-work infinitely varied in pattern. These
are intermingled and alternated with zigzags, waves,
spirals, and lozenges ; while here and there among
the curves are seen the faces or forms of dragons,
serpents, or other strange-looking animals, their
tails or ears or tongues not unfrequently elongated
and woven till they become merged and lost in the
general design ; and sometimes human faces, or
full figures of men or of angels. But vegetable forms
are very rare. This ornamentation was commonly
used in the capital letters, which are generally very
large : one splendid capital of the Book of KelLs
covers a whole page. The pattern is often so minute
and complicated as to require the aid of a magnifying
glass to examine it. The penwork is throughout
illuminated in brilliant colours, in preparing the
materials of which the scribes were as skilful as in
making their ink : for in some of the old books the
colours, especially the red, are even now very little
faded after the lapse of so many centuries.
We have many books ornamented in this style.
The Book of Kells, a vellum manuscript of the Four
Gospels in Latin, written in the seventh or eighth
century, is the most beautifully written book in
existence. Miss Stokes, who has examined it with
great care, thus speaks of it : — " No effort hitherto
made to transcribe any one page of this book has
the perfection of execution and rich harmony of
colour which belongs to this wonderful book."
Professor J. 0. Westwood, of Oxford, who examined
(Fac-simile of one page of the Book of Mac Durnan, exactly as it left the hand of the
Irish scribe, A.D. 850. The words, which are much contracted, are the beginning of the
Gospel of Saint Mark, in Latin. For further reference to this frontispiece, see pp. 14, 493,
494. — Front West wood's Fac.-sim. of Atig.-Sax. ana Irish MSS.~\
FiG/64.— Outlines of^the illuminated page from the Book of Mac Durnan.
Latin words with contractions as they stand in the p age.— Initium Avangelii dni nriihuchri
filii di sicut scrip "? in esaia „pfeta Ecce mitto anguelum meum
Latin words fully written out.— Initium Aevangelii domini nostri ihesu christi filii dei sicut
scriptum est in esaia profeta Ecce mitto anguelum meum
Translation.— The beginning of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ Son of God as it is written
in Esaia the prophet Behold I send my angel
242 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
the best specimens of ancient penwork all over
Europe, speaks even more strongly : — " It is the
most astonishing book of the Four Gospels which
exists in the world. ... I know pretty well all
the libraries in Europe where such books as this
occur, but there is no such book in any of them ;
. . . there is nothing like it in all the books which
were written for Charlemagne and his immediate
successors."
The Book of Durrow and the Book of Armagh,
both in Trinity College, Dublin ; the Book of
Mac Durnan, now in the Archbishop's Library,
Lambeth ; the Stowe Missal in the Royal Irish
Academy; and the Garland of Howth in Trinity
College — all written by Irishmen in the seventh,
eighth, and ninth centuries — are splendidly orna-
mented and illuminated : and of the Book of
Armagh, some portions of the penwork surpass even
the finest parts of the Book of Kells.
Giraldus Cambrensis, when in Ireland in 1185,
saw a copy of the Pour Gospels in St. Brigit's
nunnery in Kildare, which so astonished him that
he has recorded — in a special and separate chapter
of his book — a legend that it was written under the
direction of an angel.
This beautiful art originated in the East — in
Byzantium after the fall of the first empire — and
was brought to Ireland — no doubt by Irish monks, or
by natives of Central Europe who came to Ireland
to study — in the early ages of Christianity. But as
first introduced it was very simple. Though the
Irish did not originate it, they made it, as it were,
their own after adopting it, and cultivated it to greater
I etTiorifcixixv qvccc
f Qpucknh
^CQvaxrrwpivTncipfo
apudtom
Fig. 65.
The beginning of the Gospel of St. John, from an Irish manuscript Gospel Book
now in Bavaria. (In the original MS., this is illuminated in colour.)
r2
244 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
perfection than was ever dreamed of in Byzantium
or Italy. Combining the Byzantine interlacings
with the familiar pagan designs at home, they
produced a variety of patterns, and developed new
and intricate forms of marvellous beauty and
symmetry. Accordingly it is now known by the
name Opus Hibernicum, ' Irish Work.' Irish manu-
script books, ornamented in this manner and richly
illuminated, are found, not only in Ireland, but in
numerous libraries all over Great Britain and the
Continent. (See illustration, last page.)
In pagan times the Irish practised a sort of
ornamentation consisting of zigzags, lozenges, circles
both single and in concentric groups, spirals of both
single and double lines, and other such patterns,
many very beautiful, which may be seen on bronze
and gold ornaments preserved in museums, and on
sepulchral stone monuments, such as those at New
Grange and Loughcrew. But in all this pre-Christian
ornamentation there is not the least trace of inter-
laced work.
2. Gold, Silver, and Enamel, as Working
Materials.
Gold and Silver.— It is certain that gold and
silver mines were worked in this country from the
most remote antiquity, and that gold was found
anciently in much greater abundance than it has
been in recent times. According to the bardic annals,
the monarch Tigernmas [Tiernmas] was the first
that smelted gold in Ireland, and with it covered
drinking-goblets and brooches ; the mines were
CHAP. XII.] ART. 245
situated in the Foithre [fira], or woody districts,
east of the Liffey ; and the artificer was Uchadan,
who lived in that part of the country. In the same
district gold is found to this day. But other parts of
the country produced gold also, as, for instance, the
district of O'Gonneloe near Killaloe, and the neigh-
bourhood of the Moyola river in Derry. There were
gold districts also in Antrim, Tyrone, Dublin, Wex-
ford, and Kildare. The general truthfulness of the
old Irish traditions and records is fully borne out by
the great quantities of golden ornaments found in
every part of the country, of which numerous speci-
mens may be seen in the National Museum, Dublin.
As in the case of gold, we have also very ancient
legends about silver ; and it was, and is, found in
many parts of Ireland.
Enamel and Enamel Work. — On many of the
specimens of metal-work preserved in the National
Museum may be seen enamel patterns worked with
exquisite skill, showing that the Irish artists were
thorough masters of this branch of art. Their
enamel was a sort of whitish or yellowish transparent
glass as a foundation, coloured with different metallic
oxides. It was fused on to the surface of the heated
metal, where it adhered, and was worked while soft
into various patterns. The art of enamelling was
common to the Celtic people of Great Britain and
Ireland, in pre-Christian as well as in Christian times ;
and beautiful specimens have been found in both
countries, some obviously Christian, and others, as
their designs and other characteristics show, belong-
ing to remote pagan ages. It was taken up and
improved by the Christian artists, who used it in
246 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
metal-work with the interlaced ornamentation, simi-
lar to the penwork described above (p. 240). A few
years ago a great block of cruan or red enamel weigh-
ing 101b., formed of glass coloured with red oxide of
copper — being the raw material intended for future
work — was found under one of the raths at Tara, and
is now in the National Museum. The enamel work
of Christian artists is seen in perfection in the Cross
of Cong, the Ardagh Chalice, and the Tara Brooch.
3. Artistic Metal Work,
The pagan Irish, like the ancient Britons, practised
from time immemorial — long before the introduction
of Christianity — the art of working in bronze, silver,
gold, and enamel ; an art which had become highly
developed in Ireland by the time St. Patrick and his
fellow-missionaries arrived. Some of the antique
Irish articles made in pagan times show great mas-
tery over metals, and admirable skill in design and
execution. This primitive art was continued into
Christian times, and was brought to its highest per-
fection in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Artistic
metal work continued to flourish to about the end of
the twelfth century, but gradually declined after that,
owing to the general disorganisation of society con-
sequent on the Anglo-Norman invasion, and to the
want of encouragement. The ornamental designs of
metal work executed by Christian artists were gene-
rally similar to those used in manuscripts, and the
execution was distinguished by the same exquisite skill
and masterly precision. The three most remarkable
as well as the most beautiful and most elaborately
CHAP. XII.] ART. 247
ornamented objects in the National Museum are
the Ardagh Chalice, the Tara Brooch, and the
Cross of Cong, all made by Christian artists.
But there are others little, if at all, inferior to these
in workmanship.
The Ardagh Chalice, which is seven inches high
andJ)J inches in diameter at top, was found a few
Fig. 66.
The Ardagh Chalice. (From Miss Stokes's Early Christian Art in Ireland.)
Underneath the ornamental band, near the top, and extending all round the
circumference, there is an inscription giving the names of the twelve Apostles :
but the letters are too delicate to be shown in this illustration.
years ago buried in the ground under a stone in an
old lis at Ardagh in the county Limerick. It is
elaborately ornamented with designs in metal and
enamel; and, judging from its shape and from its
admirable workmanship, it was probably made some
short time before the tenth century.
Fig. 67.
The Tara Brooch : front view. (Pin cut short here to save space.) (From Miss Stokes's
Early Christian Art in Ireland.) The plates with the ornamental designs have been
knocked off seven of the little panels.
CHAP. XII.] ART. - 249
The Tara brooch was found in 1850 by a child on
the strand near Drogheda. It is ornamented all
over with amber, glass, and enamel, and with the
characteristic Irish filigree or interlaced work in
metal. From its style of workmanship it seems
obviously contemporaneous with the Ardagh chalice.
No drawing can give any adequate idea of the extra-
ordinary delicacy and beauty of the work on this
brooch, which is perhaps the finest specimen of
ancient metal-work remaining in any country.
The Cross of Cong, which is 2 feet 6 inches high,
is all covered over with elaborate ornamentation of
pure Celtic design ; and a series of inscriptions in the
Irish language along the sides give its full history.
It was made by order of Turlogh 0' Conor, king of
Connaught, for the church of Tuam, then governed
by Archbishop Muredach O'Duffy. The accom-
plished artist, who finished his work in 1123, and
who deserves to be remembered to all time, was
Mailisa Mac Braddan O'Hechan.
4. Stone- Carving.
Artistic stone-carving is chiefly exhibited in the
great stone crosses, of which about fifty-five still
remain in various parts of Ireland. Their dates
extend over a period from the tenth to the thir-
teenth century, inclusive. All are ornamented with
the Opus Hibernicum, already described. Most of the
high crosses contain groups of figures representing
various subjects of sacred history, such as the Cruci-
fixion, the fall of man, Noah in the ark, the sacrifice
of Isaac, the fight of David and Goliath, the arrest of
our Lord, Eve presenting the apple to Adam, the
journey to Egypt, &d
Ornament on leather case of Book of Armagh. (From Petrie's Round Towers.)
CHAPTER XIII.
MUSIC.
Section 1. History.
kish Musicians were celebrated for their skill
from the very earliest ages. Our native
literature — whether referring to pagan or
Christian times — abounds in references to
music and to skilful musicians, who are
always spoken of in terms of the utmost
respect. Everywhere through the Eecords
we find evidences that the ancient Irish
people, both high and low, were passion-
ately fond of music : it entered into their daily life,
and formed part of their amusements, meetings, and
celebrations of every kind. In the early ages of the
church many of the Irish ecclesiastics took great
delight in playing on the harp ; and for this purpose
commonly brought a small harp with them when on
the mission, which beguiled many a weary hour in
the intervals of hard work. It appears from several
authorities that the practice of playing on the harp
as an accompaniment to the voice was common in
Ireland as early as the fifth or sixth century.
252 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
During the long period when learning flourished
in Ireland, Irish professors and teachers of music
would seem to have been as much in request in
foreign countries as those of literature and philosophy.
In the middle of the seventh century, Gertrude,
daughter of Pepin, mayor of the palace, abbess of
Nivelle in Belgium, engaged SS. Foillan and Ultan,
brothers of the Irish saint Fursa of Peronne, to
instruct her nuns in psalmody. In the latter half of
the ninth century the cloister schools of St. Gall
were conducted by an Irishman, Maengal or
Marcellus, a man deeply versed in sacred and
human literature, including music. Under his
teaching the music school there attained its highest
fame.
In early times the Irish harpers were constantly
employed to instruct the Welsh bards — a practice
that continued down to the eleventh century : and
in 1078, a Welsh king, Gryffith ap Conan, brought
to Wales a number of skilled Irish musicians, who,
in conference with the native bards, reformed the
instrumental music of the Welsh. Ireland was also
long the school for Scottish harpers, as it was for
those of Wales : " Till within the memory of persons
still living" — says Mr. Jameson, a Scotch writer —
" the school for Highland poetry and music was
Ireland, and thither professional men were sent to
be accomplished in these arts." Such facts as these
sufficiently explain why so many Irish airs have
become naturalised in Scotland.
Giraldus Cambrensis, who seldom had a good
word for anything Irish, heard the Irish harpers in
1185, and gives his experience as follows: — "They
CHAP. XIII.] MUSIC. 253
are incomparably more skilful than any other
nation I have ever seen. They enter into a
movement and conclude it in so delicate a manner
and tinkle the little strings so sportively under
the deeper tones of the bass strings — that the
perfection of their art appears in the concealment
of art."
For centuries after the time of Giraldus music
continued to be cultivated uninterruptedly, and there
was an unbroken succession of great professional
harpers. Drayton (1613) has the following stanza
in his " Polyolbion ": —
" The Irish I admire
And still cleave to that lyre,
As our Muse's mother ;
And think till I expire,
Apollo's such another."
• But the great harpers of those very old times are
all lost to history. The oldest harper of great
eminence whom we are able to identify is Eory Dall
(blind) O'Cahan, who, although a musician from
taste and choice, was really one of the chiefs of the
Antrim family of O'Cahan. He was the composer of
many fine airs, some of which we still possess. He
visited Scotland with a retinue of gentlemen about
the year 1600, where he died after a short residence ;
and many of his airs are still favourites among the
Scotch people, who claim them — and sometimes
even the author himself — as their own. Thomas
O'Connallon was born in the county Sligo early in
the seventeenth century. He seems to have been
incomparably the greatest harper of his day, and
254 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
composed many exquisite airs. A much better-known
personage was Turlough O'Carolan or Carolan: born
at Nobber, county Meath, about 1670 : died in 1738.
He became blind in his youth from an attack of
smallpox, after which he began to learn the harp ;
and ultimately he became the greatest Irish musical
composer of modern times ; but his musical com-
positions are, generally, less typically Irish than
those of his predecessors. Like the bards of old,
he was a poet as well as a musician. He always
travelled about with a pair of horses, one for himself
and the other for his servant who carried his harp ;
and he was received and welcomed everywhere by
the gentry, Protestant as well as Catholic.
2. Musical Instruments,
The Harp is mentioned in the earliest Irish
literature ; it is constantly mixed up with our oldest
legends and historical romances ; and it was in use
from the remotest pagan times. It was called crott
or emit; but cldirsech is now the name in general use.
Several harps are sculptured on the high crosses, one
of which is depicted on next page and another at
p. 257, farther on, from which we can form a good
idea of their shape and size in old times. From all
these, and from several incidental expressions found
in the literature, we can see that the harps of the
ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries were of medium
size or rather small, the average height being about
30 inches : and some were not much more than
half that height. Probably those of the early
centuries were of much the same size — from 16 to
CHAP. XIII.
MUSIC.
255
36 inches. The specimens of harps belonging to
later ages — including " Brian Boru's harp" noticed
below — are all small — still about thirty inches.
But in more recent times it has been the fashion to
make them larger.
The ordinary harp of the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries — as we know by many specimens re-
maining— had generally thirty strings, comprehend-
ing a little more than four octaves. Several harps
of the old pattern are still
preserved in museums in
Dublin and elsewhere, the
most interesting of which is
the one now popularly known
as Brian Boru's harp in
Trinity College, Dublin.
This is the oldest harp in
Ireland — probably the oldest
in existence. Yet it did not
belong to Brian Boru ; though
it is likely as old as the thir-
teenth century. It is thirty-
two inches high ; it had thirty
strings : and the ornamentation and general work-
manship are very beautiful.
The Irish had a small stringed instrument called a
Timpan, which had only a few strings — from three
to eight. The body was a small flat drum or
tympanum (whence the name) with a short neck
added ; the strings were stretched across the flat
face and along the neck, and were tuned and
regulated by pins or keys and a bridge, something
like the modern guitar, or banjo, but with the neck
Fig. 69.
Harper on west face of High
Cross of Castledermot, of about
the end of tenth century. (From
Miss Stokes's High Crosses of
Castledermot and Durrow.)
256
RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
much shorter. It was played with a bow, or with
both a bow and plectrum, or with the finger-nail;
and the strings were probably stopped with the
fingers of the left hand, like those of a violin.
The harp— as well as the timpan — was furnished
with brass strings. The tuning-key had a wooden
handle tipped with steel, like the modern piano-key.
Both harp and timpan, when
not in use, were kept in a case,
commonly of otter-skins.
In very early ages a profes-
sional harper was honoured be-
yond all other musicians. In
the eighteenth century, almost
everyone among the high and
middle classes played the harp.
The bagpipes were known in
Ireland from the earliest times :
the form used was something
like that now commonly known
as the Highland pipes — slung
from the shoulder, the bag
inflated by the mouth. The
other form — resting on the lap,
the bag inflated by a bellows
— which is much the finer
instrument, is of modern invention. The bagpipes
were in very general use, especially among the lower
classes.
The simple pipe — as we might expect— was
much in use, blown by the mouth at the end ; the
note being produced either by a whistle as in the
modern flageolet, or by a reed as in the clarionet.
Fig. 70.
Irish Piper playing at the
head of a band marching
to battle. (From Derrick's
Image of Ireland, 1578.)
CHAP. XIII.]
MUSIC.
257
We find it often sculptured on the high crosses,
as shown in fig. 71, which will give a good idea of
shape and size.
Fig. 71.
Harp- and Pipe-players. Figure on Durrow High Cross. (This is a pipe, not
a trumpet.) (From Miss Stokes's High Crosses of Castledermot and Durrow.)
Belongs to about the tenth century.
The Irish had curved bronze trumpets and
horns, of various shapes and sizes, which, judging
from the great numbers found buried in clay and
bogs, must have been in very general use. They
occur indeed in far greater numbers in Ireland than
in any other country. The fact that many are often
found hoarded together would indicate their military
use. In the National Museum in Dublin there is a
collection of twenty-six trumpets, varying in length
from about 18 inches to 8 feet ; most of them of
finished and beautiful workmanship.
258
RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
Among the household of every king and chief
there was a band of trumpeters, who were assigned
their proper places at feasts and meetings. Trumpets
were used for various purposes : — in war (p. 68,
above) ; in hunting ; for signals during meetings
and banquets ; as a mark of honour on the arrival
Fig. 72.
Group of Irish Trumpets, now in National Museum, Dublin, The two at
bottom, hammered bronze: the larger, 8% feet long ; the smaller, 6 feet, with
circular ornamented plate at end, shown in fig. 73. Each of these formed of two
pieces, most skilfully riveted along the whole length. The three smaller ones at
top made in one piece by casting. (From Wilde's Catalogue.)
of distinguished visitors ; and such like. For war
purposes, trumpeters — as already noticed — had dif-
ferent calls for directing movements.
The ancient Irish were very fond of a craebh-ciuil
[crave-cule], or 'musical branch,' a little branch
on which were suspended a number of diminutive
bells, which produced a sweet tinkling when shaken :
CHAP. XIII.] MUSIC. 259
a custom found also in early times on the Continent.
The musical branch figures much in Irish romantic
literature.
Ornamental bronze Plate at end of Trumpet.
(From Wilde's Catalogue.)
3. Characteristics; Classes; Styles.
There was not in Ireland, any more than else-
where, anything like modern developments of music.
There were no such sustained and elaborate com-
positions as operas, oratorios, or sonatas. The
music of ancient Ireland consisted wholly of short
airs, each with two strains or parts — seldom more.
But these, though simple in comparison with modern
music, were constructed with such exquisite art that
of a large proportion o£ them it may be truly said
no modern composer can produce airs of a similar
kind to equal them.
s2
260 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
The ancient Irish used harmony, though of a
very simple kind compared with that used at present :
and they had several names for it. This appears
from many passages in old Irish writings ; as well
as from Giraldus's mention — in the passage quoted
at p. 253 — of the little strings tinkling under the
deeper tones of the bass strings.
The Irish musicians had three styles, the effects
of which the old Irish romance-writers describe with
much exaggeration, as the Greeks describe the effects
produced by the harp of Orpheus. Of all three we
have numerous well-marked examples, descending
to the present day. The Gen-traige [gan-tree],
which incited to merriment and laughter, is repre-
sented by the lively dance-tunes and other such
spirited pieces. The Gol-traige [gol-tree] expressed
sorrow : represented by the keens or death- tunes,
many of which are still preserved. The Suan-traige
[suan-tree] produced sleep. This style is seen in
our lullabies or nurse-tunes, of which we have
numerous beautiful specimens.
The Irish had also what may be called occupation-
tunes. The young girls accompanied their spinning
with songs — both air and words made to suit the
occupation. Special airs and songs were used
during working- time by smiths, by weavers, and
by boatmen : and we have still a ''Smith's Song,"
the notes of which imitate the sound of the hammers
on the anvil, like Handel's " Harmonious Black-
smith." At milking-time the girls were in the
habit of chanting a particular sort of air, in a low,
gentle voice. These milking-songs were slow and
plaintive, something like the nurse-tunes, and had
CHAP. XIII.] MUSIC. 261
the effect of soothing the cows and of making them
submit more gently to be milked. This practice
was common down to fifty or sixty years ago : and
I remember seeing cows grow restless when the
song was interrupted, and become again quiet and
placid when it was resumed. The old practice also
prevailed in Scotland, and probably has not yet died
out there. Referring to our own time, a distinguished
Scotch writer, Mr. Alexander Carmichael, says : —
II The cows become accustomed to these lilts, and
will not give their milk without them, nor, occa-
sionally, without their favourite airs being sung to
them": and so generally is this recognised that —
as he tells us — girls with good voices get higher
wages than those that cannot sing.
While ploughmen were at their work, they whistled
a peculiar wild, slow, and sad strain, which had as
powerful an effect in soothing the horses at their
hard work as the milking-songs had on the cows.
Plough-whistles also were quite usual down to 1847,
and often when a mere boy, did I listen enraptured
to the exquisite whistling of Phil Gleeson on a calm
spring-day behind his plough. There were, besides,
hymn-tunes : and young people used simple airs for
all sorts of games and sports. In most cases, words
suitable to the several occasions were sung with
lullabies, laments, and occupation-tunes. Like the
kindred Scotch, each tribe had a war-march which
inspirited them when advancing to battle. Speci-
mens of all these may be found in the collections
of Bunting, Petrie, Joyce, and others. We have
evidence that occupation-tunes were in use at a
very early time.
262 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
4. Modern Collections of ancient Irish Music.
In early times they had no means of writing down
music ; and musical compositions were preserved in
the memory and handed down by tradition from
generation to generation ; but in the absence of
written record many were lost. It was only in
the seventeenth or eighteenth century that people
began to collect Irish airs from singers and players,
and to write them down. There are now several
collections of ancient Irish music, of which the chief
are those by Bunting, Petrie, Joyce, and Horncastle ;
a large collection in a Dublin periodical called
"The Citizen"; and a volume of Carolan's airs
published by his son.
The man who did most in modern times to draw
attention to Irish music was Thomas Moore. He
composed his exquisite songs to old Irish airs ; and
songs and airs were published in successive numbers
or volumes, beginning in 1807. They at once
became popular, not only in the British Islands, but
on the Continent and in America ; and Irish music
was thenceforward studied and admired where it
would have never been heard of but for Moore.
The whole collection of songs and airs — well known
as "Moore's Melodies" — is now published in one
small, cheap volume.
We know the authors of many of the airs com-
posed within the last 200 years : but these form
the smallest portion of the whole body of Irish
music. All the rest have come down from old
times, scattered fragments of exquisite beauty, that
CHAP. XIII.] MUSIC. 268
remind us of the refined musical culture of our
forefathers. To this last class belong such well-
known airs as Savourneen Dheelish, There came to
the Beach, Shule Aroon, Molly Asthore, The Boyne
Water, Garry owen, Patrick's Day, Eileen Aroon,
Langolee (Dear Harp of my Country), The Groves
of Blarney (The Last Rose of Summer), &c, &c.
To illustrate what is here said, I may mention
that of about 120 Irish airs in all " Moore's
Melodies," we know the authors of less than a
dozen : as to the rest, nothing is known either of
the persons who composed them or of the times
of their composition.
As the Scotch of the west of Scotland were
descendants of Irish colonists, preserving the same
language and traditions, and as the people of the
two countries kept up intimate intercourse with
each other for many centuries, the national music
of Scotland is, as might be expected, of much the
same general character as that of Ireland. This
close connexion and constant intercourse continued
till the end of the eighteenth century ; and it was
a common practice among Irish harpers, even
from the earliest times, to travel through Scotland.
Accordingly, as already mentioned, much of our
Irish music was brought to Scotland, and became
naturalised there ; and a very large number of airs
now claimed by Scotland are really Irish, of which
the well-known air Eileen Aroon or Bobin Adair is
an example.
,;iiS»lM^^S
Portion of a Bell-shrine found in the River Bann.
(From Miss Stokes's Christian Inscriptions.)
CHAPTER XIV.
MEDICINE AND MEDICAL DOCTORS.
Section 1. Medical Doctors.
edicine and surgery were carefully
studied in Ireland from the very
earliest times. There was a distinct
professional class of physicians who
underwent a regular course of educa-
tion and practical training, and whose qualifications
and privileges were universally recognised. Those
intended for the profession were usually educated
by being apprenticed to a physician of standing, in
whose house they lived during their pupilage, and
by whom they were instructed. This profession,
like others in ancient Ireland, became in great
measure hereditary in certain families.
The Irish, like the Greeks and other ancient
nations, had their great mythical physicians, of
whom the most distinguished was the Dedannan
leech-god Diancecht [Dianket], His name signifies
' vehement power,' and marvellous stories are re-
CHAP. XIV.] MEDICINE AND MEDICAL DOCTORS. 265
lated of Lis healing skill ; similar to those of some
old Greek physicians. He is mentioned in certain
Irish Glosses and Incantations for health, written
in the eighth century : so that at that early time he
was regarded as a god, belonging to a period looked
back to, even then, as the dim twilight of antiquity.
He had a son Midach and a daughter Airmeda,
both of whom in some respects excelled himself ;
and in one of the old tales we are told that he grew
at last so jealous of Midach that he killed him.
And after a time there grew up from the young
physician's grave 365 herbs from the 365 joints and
sinews and members of his body, each herb with
mighty virtue to cure diseases of the part it grew
from. His sister Airmeda plucked up the herbs,
and carefully sorting them, wrapped them up in her
mantle. But the jealous old Diancecht came and
mixed them all up, so that now no leech has
complete knowledge of their distinctive qualities
" unless "—adds the story — " the Holy Spirit should
teach him."
Medical doctors figure conspicuously in the Tales
of the Red Branch Knights. A whole medical corps,
under one head physician, accompanied each army
during the war of the Tain. Each leech of the
company carried, slung from his waist, a bag —
called a Us [lace] — full of medicaments ; and at the
end of the day's fighting, whether between numbers
or individuals, they came forward and applied their
salves.
Though the profession continued uninterruptedly
from the most distant ages, the first notice of an
individual physician we find in the annals of
266 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
Christian times occurs under a.d. 860, where the
death is recorded of Maelodar O'Tinnri, "the best
physician in Ireland": but from that period down-
wards the annals record a succession of eminent
physicians, whose reputation, like that of the Irish
scholars of other professions, reached the Continent.
In the beginning of the seventeenth century, when
medicine had been successfully studied in Ireland
for more than a thousand years, Van Helmont of
Brussels, a distinguished physician and writer on
medical subjects, gave a brief but very correct
account of the Irish physicians of his time, their
books, and their remedies, and praised them for
their skill. He says: —
" The Irish nobility have in every family a domestic physician,
who has a tract of land free for his remuneration, and who is
appointed, not on account of the amount of learning he brings
away in his head from colleges, but because he can cure
disorders. These doctors obtain their medical knowledge chiefly
from books belonging to particular families left them by their
ancestors, in which are laid down the symptoms of the several
diseases, with the remedies annexed ; which remedies are the
productions of their own country. Accordingly the Irish are
better managed in sickness than the Italians, who have a
physician in every village."
From the earliest times reached by our records
the kings and great Irish families had physicians
attached to their households, whose office was, as
in other professions, hereditary. The O'Callanans
were physicians to the Mac Carthys of Desmond ;
the O'Cassidys, of whom individuals of eminence
are recorded, to the Maguires of Fermanagh ; the
O'Lees, to the O'Flahertys of Connaught; and the
CHAP. XIV.] MEDICINE AND MEDICAL DOCTORS. 267
O'Hickeys, to the O'Briens of Tliomond, to the
O'Kennedys of Ormond, and to the Macnamaras
of Clare.
The O'Shiels were physicians to the MacMahons
of Oriel, and to the MacCoghlans of Delvin, in
the present King's County : and their hereditary
estate, which is near the village of Ferbane, is still
called Ballyshiel, ' O'Shiel's town.' Colgan states
that in his time — seventeenth century— the O'Shiels
were widely spread through Ireland, and were
celebrated for their skill in natural science and
medicine. Only quite recently — in 1889 — Dr. Shiel,
an eminent physician of Ballyshannon, left by his
will a large fortune to found a hospital for the poor
in that town. So that even still the hereditary
genius of the family continues to exercise its benign
influence.
The amount of remuneration of a family leech
depended on his own eminence and on the status
of the king or chief in whose household he lived.
The stipend usually consisted of a tract of land
and a residence in the neighbourhood, held free of
all rent and tribute, together with certain allowances
and perquisites : and the physician might practise
for fee outside his patron's household. Five hundred
acres of land was a usual allowance : and some of
these estates — now ordinary townlands — retain the
family names to this day. The household physician
to a king — who should always be an ollave-leech, that
is, one who had attained the highest rank in the
profession (p. 185, supra) — held a very dignified
position, and indeed lived like a prince, with a
household and dependents of his own. He was
268 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
always among the king's immediate retinue, and
was entitled to a distinguished place at table.
Speaking generally, the best physicians were those
attached to noble households. Those unattached
lived by their fees ; the amounts for the several
operations or attendances being defined by the
Brehon Laws. A qualified physician — as we have
said — kept pupils or graduates who lived in his
house and accompanied him in his visitations to
learn his methods. We have already seen (p. 88)
that a man who inflicted a wound had, on con-
viction, to pay a certain eric- fine to the wounded
person. A leech who, through carelessness, or
neglect, or gross want of skill, failed to cure a
wound, had to pay the same fine to the patient as
if he had inflicted the wound with his own hand ;
and if he had received his fee, he should return it.
It is worthy of remark that in our legendary
history female physicians are often mentioned : and
so we see that in ancient Ireland the idea was
abroad which is so extensively coming into practice
in our own day.
2. Medical Manuscripts.
The physicians of ancient Ireland, like those of
other countries, derived a large part of their special
learning from books, which in those times were all
manuscripts. The members of each medical family
had generally their own special book, which was
handed down reverently from father to son, and
which, at long intervals, when it had become
damaged and illegible through age, was carefully
CHAP. XIV.] MEDICINE AND MEDICAL DOCTORS. 269
transcribed into a new volume. Several of these
venerable leech-books are still preserved, as men-
tioned farther on.
But besides these special books belonging to
particular families, there were many others, which
were copied and multiplied from time to time ; so
that the chief medical families had libraries con-
taining such medical knowledge as was then
available. There are still preserved in various
libraries a great number of Irish medical mss.,
forming a collection of medical literature in Irish,
probably the largest in existence in any one tongue.
The manner in which these books were generally
compiled and the motives of the compilers may
be gathered from the following translation of a
prefatory statement in Irish by the writer of a
medical manuscript of the year 1352, now in the
Royal Irish "Academy, — a statement breathing a
noble spirit, worthy of the best traditions of the
faculty : —
"May the merciful God have mercy on us all. I have here
collected practical rules from several works, for the honour of
God, for the henefit of the Irish people, for the instruction of
my pupils, and for the love of my friends and of my kindred.
I have translated them into Gaelic from Latin hooks containing
the lore of the great leeches of Greece and Rome. These are
things gentle, sweet, profitable, and of little evil, things which
have been often tested by us and by our instructors. I pray
God to bless those doctors who will use this book ; and I lay it
on their souls as an injunction, that they extract not sparingly
from it ; and more especially that they do their duty devotedly
in cases where they receive no pay [on account of the poverty
of the patients]. I implore every doctor, that before he begins
his treatment he remember God, the father of health, to the end
that his work may be finished prosperously. Moreover, let him
270 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
not be in mortal sin, and let him implore the patient to be also
free from grievous sin. Let him offer up a secret prayer for the
sick person, and implore the Heavenly Father, the physician
and balm-giver for all mankind, to prosper the work he is
entering upon."
The Book of the O'Lees in the Royal Irish
Academy is a large-sized vellum manuscript, written
in 1443, partly in Latin and partly in Irish. It is a
complete system of medicine, treating of most of the
diseases then known. The Book of the O'Hickeys,
now in the Royal Irish Academy, commonly known
as the " Lily of Medicine," is a translation into
Irish of a Latin work, originally written by Bernard
Gordon — a Continental physician— in 1303. The
Book of the O'Shiels, now also in the Royal Irish
Academy, which was transcribed in 1657, from some
manuscript of unknown date, contains a system of
medical science still more complete and scientific
than even the Book of the O'Lees. There are
many other medical manuscript books belonging to
particular families.
3. Diseases.
All the chief diseases and epidemics we are now
acquainted with were known and studied by the
Irish physicians, and called by Irish names. In
early times great plagues were of frequent occurrence
all over the world ; and Ireland was not exempt.
The victims of a plague were commonly buried in
one spot, which was fenced round and preserved as
in a manner sacred. In Cormac's Glossary it is
stated that the place of such wholesale interment
was called tamhlacht, i.e. 'plague-grave,' from tamh,
CHAP XIV.] MEDICINE AND MEDICAL DOCTORS. 271
a plague, and lacht, a monument or memorial over
the dead. Tamhlacht, which is still a living word,
has given name to the village of Tallaght near
Dublin, where the Parthalonian colony, who all died
of a plague in one week, were interred. On the side
of Tallaght hill are to be seen to this day a number
of pagan graves and burial mounds. Within historic
times, the most remarkable and destructive of all the
ancient plagues was the Blefed, or Buide-Connaill
[boy-connell] or yellow plague, which swept through
Ireland twice, in the sixth and seventh centuries,
and which, we know from outer sources, desolated
all Europe about the same time. The Irish records
abound in notices of its ravages.
The idea that a plague could not travel over sea
farther than nine waves was very general, both in
pagan and Christian times. During the prevalence
of the yellow plague, St. Colman of Cloyne, with
his terrified companions, fled to an island somewhere
near Cork, so as to put a distance of nine waves
between them and the mainland.
Some cutaneous disease, very virulent and infec-
tious, known by names — such as lobor, clam, and
trosc — that indicate a belief that it was leprosy,
existed in Ireland from a very early date : but
experts of our day doubt if it was true leprosy.
Whatever it was, it would seem to have been a well-
recognised disease in the fifth century; and after
that time our literature, especially the Lives of the
Saints, abounds with notices of the disease.
The annals record several outbreaks of smallpox
and many individual deaths from it. It was known
by two names, both still in use in different parts of
272 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
the country : — bolgacfi or ' pustule disease ' (bolg, ' a
bag or pustule'), and galar-brecc, the 'speckled dis-
ease.'
Consumption was but too well known, then as
now : a usual name for it was sere/, i.e. ' withering'
or ' decaying.' In Cormac's Glossary a person in
consumption is called by an Irish name signifying
' without fat.'
1 Gout in the hand,' is explained in Irish by
crapan na lam, ' cramp or spasm of the hands ' : and
ophthalmia is galar sirfa, ' disease of the eye.' This
word crupdn [cruppaun], i a spasm or seizure,' is
still used in parts of Ireland to denote a paralytic
affection in cattle : it was also applied to convulsions.
In the Tripartite Life and other old documents, colic
is designated by trer/at, which is still a spoken
word. One of the early kings of Ireland was called
Aed Uaridnech (a.d. 603 to 611), or ' Aed of the
shivering disease,' no doubt ague. Palsy was known
by the descriptive name crith-ldm [crih-lauv],
trembling of the hands,' from crith, ' shaking,' and
lam or Idmh, 'a hand.'
St. Camin of Inis-Caltra died in 653 of teine-buirr,
' fire of swelling ' — St. Antony's fire or erysipelas —
which withered away all his body. In one of
Zeuss's eighth-century glosses, cancer is designated
by two Irish words, tuthle and ailse, the latter of
which is still in use in the same sense : and else-
where in the same glosses another native word for
the same disease occurs, urphasiu. Diarrhoea was
called in Irish buinnech, i.e. ' flux,' from buinne, « a
wave or stream.' These are only a few examples of
Irish names of diseases.
CHAP. XIV.] MEDICINE AND MEDICAL DOCTORS. 273
4. TveatihenU
Hospitals. — The idea of a hospital, or a house of
some kind for the treatment of the sick or wounded,
was familiar in Ireland from remote pagan times.
In some of the tales of the Tain we read that in the
time of the Eed Branch Knights there was a hospital
for the wounded at Emain called Broinbherg [Brone-
verrig], the 'house of sorrow.' But coming to
historic times, we know that there were hospitals all
over the country, many of them in connexion with
monasteries. Some were for sick persons in general ;
some were special, as, for instance, leper-houses.
Monastic hospitals and leper-houses are very often
mentioned in the annals. These were charitable
institutions, supported by, and under the direction
and management of, the monastic authorities.
But there were secular hospitals for the common
use of the people of the tuath or district. These
came under the direct cognisance of the Brehon Law,
which laid down certain general regulations for their
management. Patients who were in a position to do
so were expected to pay for food, medicine, and the
attendance of a physician. In all cases cleanliness
and ventilation seem to have been well attended to ;
for it was expressly prescribed in the law that any
house in which sick persons were treated should be
free from dirt, should have four open doors, and
should have a stream of water running across it
through the middle of the floor. These regulations
— rough and ready as they were, though in the right
direction — applied also to a house or private hospital
274 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
kept by a doctor for the treatment of his patients.
The regulation about the four open doors and the
stream of water may be said to have anticipated by
a thousand years the present open-air treatment for
consumption.
If a person wounded another or injured him bodily
in any way, without justification, he was obliged by
the Brehon Law to pay for " Sick maintenance,"
i.e. the cost of maintaining the wounded man in a
hospital, either wholly or partly, according to the
circumstances of the case, till recovery or death ;
which payment included the fees of the physician,
and one or more attendants according to the rank
of the injured person. Moreover, it was the duty
of the aggressor to see that the patient was properly
treated : — that there were the usual four doors and
a stream of water ; that the bed was properly
furnished ; that the physician's orders were strictly
carried out — for example, the patient was not to be
put into a bed forbidden by the doctor, or given
prohibited food; and " dogs and fools and talkative
noisy people " were to be kept away from him lest
he might be worried. If the wounder neglected this
duty, he was liable to penalty. Leper hospitals were
established in various parts of Ireland, generally in
connexion with monasteries, so that they became
very general, and are often noticed in the annals.
Trefining or Trepanning. — In the Battle of
Moyrath, fought a.d, 637, a young Irish chief named
Cennfaelad [Kenfaila] had his skull fractured by a
blow of a sword, after which he was a year under cure
at the celebrated school of Tomregan in the present
County Cavan. The injured portion of the skull
CHAP. XIV.] MEDICINE AND MEDICAL DOCTORS. 275
and a portion of the brain were removed, which so
cleared his intellect and improved his memory that
on his recovery he became a great scholar and a
great jurist, whose name — " Kennfaela the Learned"
— is to this day well known in Irish literature. He
was the author of the " Primer of the Poets," a work
still in existence. Certain Legal Commentaries
which have been recently published, forming part
of the Book of Acaill, have also been attributed
to him ; and he was subsequently the founder of a
famous school at Derryloran in Tyrone.
The old Irish writer of the Tale accounts for the
sudden improvement in Kennfaela' s memory by saying
that his brain of forgetf illness was removed. It would
be hardly scientific to reject all this as mere fable.
What really happens in such cases is this. Injuries
of the head are often followed by loss of memory, or
by some other mental disturbance, which in modern
times is cured, and the mind restored to its former
healthful action — but nothing beyond — by a successful
operation on skull and brain. The effects of such
cures, which are sufficiently marvellous, have been
exaggerated even in our own day ; and in modern
medical literature physicians of some standing have
left highly-coloured accounts of sudden wonderful
improvements of intellect following injuries of the
head after cure. Kennfaela's case comes well within
historic times : and the old Irish writer's account
seems merely an exaggeration of what was a successful
cure. We must bear in mind that the mere existence
in Irish literature of this story, and of some others
like it, shows that this critical operation — trefining —
was well known and recognised, not only among the
rr, O
276 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
faculty but among the general public. In those
fighting times, too, the cases must have been
sufficiently numerous to afford surgeons good practice.
Stitching Wounds. — The art of closing up
wounds by stitching was known to the old Irish
surgeons. In the story of the death of King Concobar
mac Nessa we are told that the surgeons stitched up
the wound in his head with thread of gold, because
his hair was golden colour.
Cupping and Probing.— Cupping was commonly
practised by the Irish physicians, who for this purpose
carried about with them a sort of horn called a gipne or
(jibne, as doctors now always carry a stethoscope. An
actual case of cupping is mentioned in one old tale,
where the female leech Bebinn had the venom
drawn from an old unhealed wound on Cailte's leg, by
means of two fedans or tubes ; by which the wound
was healed. It is stated in the text that these were
" the fedans of Modarn's daughter Binn," a former
lady-doctor, from which we may infer that they
were something more than simple tubes— that they
were of some special construction cunningly de-
signed for the operation. We find a parallel case
among the Homeric Greeks, where the physician
Machaon healed an arrow-wound on Menelaus by
sucking out the noxious blood and applying salves.
The lady-physician Bebinn also treated Cailte for
general indisposition by administering five successive
emetics at proper intervals, of which 'the effects of
each are fully described in the old text. Bebinn
prepared the draughts by steeping certain herbs in
water : each draught was different from all the others,
and acted differently ; and the treatment restored the
CHAP. XIV.] MEDICINE AND MEDICAL DOCTORS. 277
patient to health. A probe (fraig) was another
instrument regarded, like the cupping - horn, as
requisite for a physician.
Sleeping- Draught. —In one of the oldest of the
Irish Tales it is stated that the warrior lady Scathach
gave Cuculainn a sleeping-draught to keep him from
going to battle : it was strong enough to put an
ordinary person to sleep for twenty-four hours : but
Cuculainn woke up after one hour. This shows that
at the early period when this story was written —
seventh or eighth century — the Irish had a knowledge
of sleeping-potions, and knew how to regulate their
strength.
Materia Medica. — I have stated that some of the
medical manuscripts contain descriptions of the
medical properties of herbs. But besides these there
are regular treatises on materia medica consisting of
long lists of herbs and a few mineral substances, such
as copperas and alum, with a description of their
medical qualities, their application to various diseases,
and the modes of preparing and administering them,
the Latin names being given, and also the Irish
names in case of native products. The herbs are
classified according to the old system, into M moist
and dry," " hot and cold."
The Irish doctors had the reputation — outside
Ireland — of being specially skilled in medicinal
botany.
Yapour Bath and Sweating-House.— We know
that the Turkish bath is of recent introduction in
these countries. But the hot-air or vapour bath
was well known in Ireland, and was used as a cure
for rheumatism down to a few years ago. It was
278 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
probably in use from old times ; and the masonry of the
Inishmurray sweating -house, represented opposite,
has all the appearance — as Mr. Wakeman remarks —
of being as old as any of the other primitive
buildings in the island. The structures in which
these baths were given are known by the name of
Tigh 'n alluis [Teenollish], ' sweating-house ' (alius,
1 sweat '). They are still well known in the northern
parts of Ireland — small houses, entirely of stone, from
five to seven feet long inside, with a low little door
through which one must creep : always placed remote
from habitations : and near by is commonly a pool or
tank of water four or five feet deep. They were used
in this way. A great fire of turf was kindled inside
till the house became heated like an oven ; after which
the embers and ashes were swept out, and water was
splashed on the stones, which produced a thick warm
vapour. Then the person, wrapping himself in a
blanket, crept in and sat down on a bench of sods,
after which the door was closed up. He remained
there an hour or so till he was in a profuse perspir-
ation : and then creeping out, plunged right into
the cold water, after emerging from which he
was well rubbed till he became warm. After several
baths at intervals of some days he commonly got
cured. Persons are still living who used these baths
or saw them used.
In the descriptions of the various curative applica-
tions given in old Irish medical books there is an
odd mixture of sound knowledge and superstition,
common in those times, not only among Irish
physicians, but among those of all countries. Magic,
charms, and astrological observations, as aids in
280 RELIGION, LEARNING, AND ART. [PART II.
medical treatment, were universal among physicians
in England down to the seventeenth century.
Popular Herb-Knowledge. — The peasantry were
skilled in the curative qualities of herbs and in
preparing and applying them to wounds and local
diseases ; and their skill has in a measure descended
to the peasantry of the present day. There were
" herb-doctors," of whom the most intelligent,
deriving their knowledge chiefly from Irish manu-
scripts, had considerable skill and did a good
practice. But these were not recognised among the
profession : they were amateurs without any technical
qualification; and they were liable to certain
disabilities and dangers from which the regular
physicians were free, like quack-doctors of the
present day. From the peasantry of two centuries
ago, Threlkeld and others who wrote on Irish botany
obtained a large part of the useful information they
have given us in their books. Popular cures were
generally mixed up with much fairy superstition,
which may perhaps be taken as indicating their
great antiquity and pagan origin.
Poison. — How to poison with deadly herbs was
known. The satirist Cridenbel died by swallowing
something put into his food by the Dagda, whom
the people then accused of murdering him. After
Coffagh the Slender of Brega had murdered his
brother Laery Lore, king of Ireland, he had Laery's
son Ailill murdered also by paying a fellow to poison
him.
PART III
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE.
Ornament, with Inscription, on the cover of the Misach, an ancient reliquary
belonging to Inishowen. (From Miss Stokes's.Christian Inscriptions.)
CHAPTER XV.
THE FAMILY.
Section 1. Marriage.
ancient Ireland it was a very general
custom, as it was in Wales, and in
Greece in the time of Homer, that
when a couple got married the man was
bound to bring the marriage portion or
dowry, not the woman. Instances of
this custom are mentioned everywhere in
our literature. The dowry consisted of gold,
silver, or brass ; or of cattle, clothes, horses,
horse-bridles, land, &c.
In Ireland,' as among all the Aryan nations, the
original conception was that the man purchased his
affianced wife from the father or other guardian, and
the dowry he brought in was the bride-price. It was
usually paid over by the bridegroom to the father
of the bride. The bride-price often consisted of a
yearly payment from the husband after marriage :
and we find it laid down in the Brehon Law that
the woman's father was entitled to the whole of the
first year's payment, to two-thirds of the second
284 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
year's, to one-half of the third : and so on,
diminishing to the twenty-first, when the claim
ceased. In each case, what was left belonged to
the wife. Any goods or valuables brought in by the
bride on her wedding-day, continued to belong to
her as her own special property after the marriage.
Sometimes the friends of the young couple made
a collection for them, which was called Tinbl (i.e.
1 collection ' : pron. tinnole), of which two-thirds
belonged by law to the man, and one-third to the
woman. Our present custom of making a young
married couple presents is not unlike the old Irish
tinnole. A tribute had to be paid — at least in some
cases — to the king, on the marriage of every maiden
of his people.
The general custom was to have only one wife :
but there were exceptions, for in very early times
we sometimes find a king or chief with two. That
chastity and modesty were prized we know from
many passages, such as that in the Life of St.
Finnchua, in which he leaves blessings to the
Leinstermen, among others " chastity in their
queens and in their wives, and modesty in their
maidens."
2. Position of Women and Children.
In ancient Ireland free women (as distinguished
from slaves) held a good position : and it may be said
that as to social rights and property they were in
most respects quite on a level with men. Husband
and wife continued to own the respective shares
they brought in at marriage, such as land, flocks,
CHAP. XV.] THE FAMILY. 285
household goods, &c, the man retaining his part
and the woman hers, each quite independently of the
other. Of this custom we find illustrations every-
where ; and there are many records of married
women taking legal proceedings on their own account
against outsiders, quite independently of the husband,
in defence of their special property.
But notwithstanding this separate ownership, as
both portions were worked more or less in con-
junction, and naturally increased from year to year,
it was generally impossible — even if so desired —
to keep them distinct, so that a part at least of the
entire possessions might be looked upon as joint
property : and for this state of things the law pro-
vided. It is from the Brehon Law we get the
clearest exposition of the rights of women regarding
property. The respective privileges of the couple
after marriage depended very much on the amount
of property they brought in. If their properties
were equal at marriage, " the wife " — says the
Senchus Mor — "is called the wife of equal rank";
and she was recognised as in all respects, in regard
to property, on an equality with her husband.
That the husband and wife were on terms of
equality as to property is made still more clear from
the provisions laid down to meet the case of sepa-
ration. If the couple separated by mutual consent,
the woman took away with her all she had brought
on the marriage day ; while the man retained what
he had contributed. Supposing the joint property
had gone on increasing during married life : then at
separation the couple divided the whole in proportion
to the original contributions. Husband and wife
286 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PAKT III.
stood on equal terms in a brehon's court, so that if
the husband gave evidence against his wife, she was
entitled to give evidence against him. But a father
could give evidence against his daughter, whether
married or single, and she was not permitted to
rebut it by her evidence.
The testimonies hitherto brought forward are
mostly legal and historical. But the general popular
conception of the position of married women may
be also gathered from the old romantic tales and
legends, including those of the Dinnsenchus, in which
women hold as high a place as men. We read of
great female physicians, some of whom are mentioned
in last chapter ; and of distinguished female brehons
or lawyers, such as Brigh Brugaid, whose decisions
were followed as precedents for centuries after
her death.
3. Fosterage.
One of the leading features of Irish social life was
fosterage (Irish, altrum), which prevailed from the
remotest period. It was practised by persons of all
classes, but more especially by those in the higher
ranks. The most usual type of fosterage was this : —
A man sent his child to be reared and educated in
the home and with the family of another member
of the tribe, who then became foster-father, and his
children the foster-brothers and foster-sisters of
the child.
There were two kinds of fosterage — for affection
and for payment. In the first there was no fee :
in the second the fee varied according to rank. The
fosterage fee sometimes consisted of land, but more
CHAP. XV.] THE FAMILY. 287
generally of cattle. For the son of the lowest order
of chief, the fee was three cows ; and from that
upwards to the son of a king, for whom the fee was
from eighteen to thirty cows. For girls, as giving
more trouble, requiring more care, and as being less
able to help the foster-parents in after-life, it was
something higher than for boys. The child, during
fosterage, was treated in all respects like the children
of the house : he worked at some appropriate em-
ployment or discharged some suitable function for
the benefit of the foster-father : and he had to be
educated in a way that suited his station in life : as
has been already described. In cases where children
were left without parents or guardians, and required
protection, the law required that they should be
placed in fosterage under suitable persons, at the
expense of the tribe.
Fosterage was the closest of all ties between
families. The relationship was regarded as some-
thing sacred. The foster-children were often more
attached to the foster-parents and foster-brothers
than to the members of their own family : and cases
have occurred where a man has voluntarily laid
down his life to save the life of his foster-father or
foster-brother. The custom of fosterage existed in
Ireland — though in a modified form — even so late
as the seventeenth or eighteenth century ; and it
was formerly common among the Welsh, the Anglo-
Saxons, and the Scandinavians.
Gossipred. — When a man stood sponsor for a
child at baptism, he became the child's godfather,
and gossip to the parents. Gossipred was regarded
■ — as it is still — as a sort of religious relationship
288 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
between families, and created mutual obligations
of regard and friendship.
After the Anglo-Norman invasion the people of
the English colony, from the great lords down, often
sent their children to be fostered by the Irish : and,
as might be expected, these young persons grew up
speaking the Irish language, and thoroughly Irish in
every way. Mainly for this reason the two customs
of fosterage and gossipred were bitterly denounced
by early English writers, most of whom were anxious
to keep the two races apart : and we know that the
Government passed several stringent laws forbidding
them under the penalty of high treason : but these
laws were generally disregarded. Gossipred in a
modified form exists to this day all over the empire.
4. Family -Names.
Hereditary family -names became general in Ireland
about the time of Brian Boru, viz. at the end of the
tenth and the beginning of the eleventh century :
and some authorities assert that they were adopted
in obedience to an ordinance of that monarch. The
manner of forming the names was very simple.
Each person had one proper name of his own. In
addition to this, all the members of a family, and of
their descendants, took as a common surname the
name of their father, with Mac (son) prefixed, or of
their grandfather or some more remote ancestor, with
Ua or 0 (grandson or descendant) prefixed. Thus
the O'Neills are so called from their ancestor
Niall GlundufY, king of Ireland (a.d. 916), and
1 John O'Neill ' means John the descendant of Niall.
Composed from the Book of Kells.
CHAPTEB XVI.
THE HOUSE.
Section 1. Construction, Shape, and Size.
efore the introduction of Christianity, build-
ings in Ireland, whether domestic, military,
or sepulchral, were generally round or
oval. The quadrangular shape, which
was used in the churches in the time of
St. Patrick, came very slowly into use,
and round structures finally disappeared
only in the fourteenth or fifteenth century. But the
round shape was not universal, even in the most
ancient period. The great Banqueting-Hall of Tara
was quadrangular, as we see by its ruins at the
present day; and in case of many of the ordinary
good-sized dwelling-houses, the walls were straight
and parallel. Some of the old lisses or forts still
to be seen are of this shape : and even where the
surrounding rampart was round, the wooden houses
it enclosed were often quadrangular.
The common Irish word for a house is tech, Lat.
tectum. A dwelling in general is denoted by arm ; a
homestead by baile, now generally anglicised bally,
u
290 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
but used in a more extended sense to denote a town-
land. The word brug or briujh [broo] was also applied
to a large dwelling.
It has sometimes been stated that there were no
towns or cities in ancient Ireland : bat this state-
ment is misleading. There were many centres of
population, though they were never surrounded by
walls ; and the dwellings were detached and scattered
a good deal — not closely packed as in modern towns.
In our old writings, both native and Anglo-Irish, we
have many records of towns and cities. Then we
know that some of the large monasteries had two or
three thousand students, which implies a total popu-
lation much larger. Some of the provisions of the
Brehon Law show that numbers of lis-dwellings
must have been clustered together.
The dwelling-houses, as well indeed as the early
churches, were nearly always of wood, as that
material was much the most easily procured. The
custom of building in wood was so general in Ireland
that it was considered a characteristic of the Irish —
more Scottorum, " after the manner of the Scots " —
as Bede expresses it. Yet we know that the Britons,
Saxons, and Franks also very generally built in
wood. Wooden houses, highly ornamented, con-
tinued in use in Dublin, Drogheda, and other towns,
down to the last century.
But although wood building was general in Ireland
before the twelfth century, it was not universal : for
some stone churches were erected from the time
of the introduction of Christianity : beehive-shaped
houses, as well as cahers and cashels (see below),
were built of stone, without mortar, from pre-historic
CHAP. XVI.]
THE HOUSE,
291
times : and the remains of these primitive structures
— churches, houses, and cahers — are still to be seen
in many parts of Ireland. In all these mortarless
buildings, the stones, though in their natural state —
not hammered or chiselled into shape — are fitted to
each other with great skill and accuracy : or, as Petrie
expresses it, " with wonderful art."
Trim Castle, originally built by Hugh de Lacy the Elder, end of twelfth
century ; but afterwards rebuilt. One df the Anglo-Norman strongholds
referred to farther on. (From Cromwell's Tours. Drawn by Petrie.)
The dwelling-houses were almost always con-
structed of wickerwork. The wall {fraig) was formed
of long stout poles placed in a circle, if the house was
to be round, standing pretty near each other, with
their ends fixed deep in the ground, the spaces between
closed in with rods and twigs neatly and firmly inter-
woven ; generally of hazel. The poles were peeled
and polished smooth. The whole surface of the
u2
292 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III*
wickerwork was plastered on the outside, and made
brilliantly white with lime, or occasionally striped in
various colours ; leaving the white poles exposed to
view.
When the house was to be four-sided, the poles
were set in two parallel rows, filled in with wicker-
work. The height of the wall depended on the size
of the house. In small houses it was low, so that
often the thatch was within reach of the hand : in
large dwellings it was usually high. The walls of
the Banqueting-Hall at Tara were at least 45 feet
high. In the large houses there were often two
stories. When there was more than one apartment
in a house, each had a separate wall and roof:
except, of course, where one apartment was over
another. Building in wickerwork was common to
the Celtic people of Ireland, Scotland, and Britain.
It is very often referred to in Irish writings of all
kinds. In the Highlands of Scotland wattled or
wicker houses were used, even among high-class
people, down to the end of the eighteenth century ;
and it is probable that they continued in use in
Ireland to as late a period.
In many superior houses, and in churches, a better
plan of building was adopted, by forming the wall
with sawed planks instead of wickerwork. In the
houses of the higher classes the doorposts and other
special parts of the dwelling and furniture were often
made of yew, carved, and ornamented with gold,
silver, bronze, and gems. We know this from the
old records ; and still more convincing evidence is
afforded by the Brehon Law, which prescribes fines
for scratching or otherwise disfiguring the posts or
CHAP. XVI.] THE HOUSE. 293
lintels of doors, the heads or posts of beds, or the
ornamental parts of other furniture.
The roof of the circular house was of a conical
shape, brought to a point, with an opening in the
centre for the smoke. It was of wickerwork or hurdles
supported by rafters sloping upwards from the tops
of the wall-poles all round, to the centre at the very
top. The roof of the quadrangular houses was much
like that of the common run of houses of the present
day. If the house was large, the conical roof of those
of circular form was supported by a tall, strong pole
standing on the centre of the floor ; in case the house
was quadrangular, there was a row of such support-
ing poles, or two rows if the structure was very large.
Straw was used for roof-covering from the earliest
times, and its use has continued to the present day :
but rushes and reeds were also very common. What-
ever the material, the covering was in all cases put on
with some degree of art and neatness, such as we see
in the work of the skilled straw-thatchers of the
present day.
A better class of roof than any of the preceding
was what is called in Irish sUnn, namely thin boards
of oak, laid and fastened so as to overlap, as in modern
slated or tiled roofs. Sometimes, anticipating modern
usage, they employed materials superior to any of the
preceding. The Annals of Ulster record that in the
year 1008, the oratory of Armagh was roofed with lead.
The thatch of ladies' greenans (see p. 300, infra) was
sometimes covered with birds' plumage, so arranged
as to form bright stripes of brown, reddish purple,
and other colours : and sometimes the hoods of
chariots were similarly roofed.
294
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE.
[part III.
There were windows in the fraig or wall, and often
a skylight in the roof. Glass was known among
various ancient nations from the most remote
period : the Celts of Britain were well acquainted
with it : and from constant references to it in our
oldest writings, it is obvious that
it was well known to the ancient
Fig. 77.
Fig. 78.
Glass and porcelain ornaments, full size, now in the National Museum. In
figs. 76 and 77 the coloured ornaments form part of the substance, and were
worked into shape, with great skill, while the whole mass was softened by heat.
Fig. 76, of clear glass, with yellow spiral ornament. Fig. 77, pin-head of fine light-
red porcelain, decorated with wavy stripes, some white, some yellow: found
with part of bronze pin attached, as shown in figure.
There are in the Museum many ornaments of coloured glass, with variously
coloured patterns of enamel on the surface, of which the most beautiful is shown,
full size, in fig. 78. It is a flat circular disk, haif-inch thick, the body of dark
blue glass, with a wavy pattern of white enamel, like an open flower, on the
surface. (All from Wilde's Catalogue.)
Irish. Beads and other small ornamental objects of
glass, variously coloured, are constantly found in
Irish pre-Christian graves and crannoges. All the
objects of this kind wherever found in Ireland were
formed while the material was heated to softness.
CHAP. XVI.] THE HOUSE. 295
Moreover, the manufacture of these little articles was
an art requiring long training and much delicate
manipulative skill, for most of them are made of
different-coloured glass or porcelain — blue, white,
yellow, pale red, &c. — blended and moulded and
beautifully striated in the manner shown imperfectly
in the black-and-white figures on the opposite page.
They were used for ornamentation, very often forming
the heads of pins, but sometimes made into rings, or
strung together for beads.
Glass drinking-vessels were known to the Irish
at least as early as the sixth century ; and they are
frequently mentioned in the most ancient of the
tales. Add to all this that the remains of a regular
glass factory have been found in the county Wicklow,
where great quantities of lumps of glass, chiefly of
the three colours, blue, green, and white, have been
— and can still be — dug up.
Glass was used in England for church windows
in the seventh century ; and it had been long pre-
viously in use for this purpose on the Continent :
so we may conclude that the knowledge of the use
of glass for windows found its way into Ireland
from Gaul, Italy, and England, through missionaries
and merchants. At all events glass windows are
mentioned in many of the ancient Irish tales, which
shows that this use of glass was familiarly known to
the original writers. .
There was one large door leading to the principal
apartment of the dwelling-house, with smaller doors,
opening externally, for the other rooms. Generally
the several rooms did not communicate with each
other internally. In the outer lis or rampart sur-
296
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
rounding the homestead (for which see farther on),
there was a single large door. The common Irish
word for door was, and is, dorus : a single leaf of a
door was comla. The knocker was a small log of
wood called bas-chrann, i.e. ' hand-wood,' which lay
in a niche by the door. It is everywhere mentioned
in the old tales that visitors knocked with the bas-
Fig. 79.
Carrickfergus Castle : one 01 the Anglo-Norman strongholds referred to
in this chapter. (From the Dub. Pen. Journ., I. 113.)
chrann. In rich people's houses there was a special
doorkeeper to answer knocks and admit visitors.
At the bottom of the door was a tdirsech or threshold.
The jamb was called ursa : the lintel was for -dorus
(i.e. 'on the door'). On the outside of the large
door of the lis was a porch called aurduine (lit. ' front
part of the dim '). Cormac's Glossary explains
aurdidnS as a structure "at the doors of the duns*
CHAP. XVI.]
THE HOUSE.
297
which is made by the artisans" — implying ornamen-
tation. The lis door was always closed at night.
The door was secured on the inside either by
a bolt or by a lock. We have the best evidence
to show that locks were used in Ireland in very
early times. Mention is made of the aradh [ara]
or ladder, which must have been in constant use.
*dfe-
Fig. 80.
King John's Castle in Limerick. Erected in the beginning of 13th century
by one of the Anglo-Norman chiefs. Some authorities state that it was built by
the order of King John. One of the Anglo-Norman castles referred to farther
on. (From Mrs. Hall's Ireland.)
The houses were generally small, according to
our idea of size. But then we must remember that,
like the people of other ancient nations, the Irish
had very little furniture. In the main room there
was probably nothing — besides the couches— but a
298 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
sufficient number of small movable seats and a large
table of some sort, or perhaps a number of small
tables. Moreover the standard of living was in all
countries low and rude compared with what we are
now accustomed to — a fact that ought to be borne
in mind by the reader of the account given here
of the domestic arrangements in ancient Irish
houses. In England, even so late as the time of
Holinshed— sixteenth century — hardly any houses
had chimneys. A big fire of logs was kindled
against the wall of the principal room, the smoke
from which escaped through an orifice in the roof
right overhead. Here the meat was cooked, and
here the family dined. In very few houses were
there beds or bedrooms ; and the general way of
sleeping was on a pallet of straw covered with a
sheet, under coverlets of various coarse materials,
with a log of wood for a pillow : while the manner
of eating, which is noticed farther on, was corre-
spondingly rude. All this is described for England
by a trustworthy English writer named Roberts.
We know that many of the great houses were very
large. The present remains of the Banqueting-Hall
of Tara measure 759 feet long and 46 feet wide : and
Petrie states that it must have been originally
much wider. We are told that the measurement of
the hall of Emain was " fifteen feet and nine score "
(195 feet) : which refers to a square shape.
We may form some idea of the better class of
dwellings from an enumeration, in one of the law
books, of the various buildings in the homestead of
a well-to-do farmer of the class bo-aire, who rented
land from a chief, and whose property was chiefly in
CHAP. XVI.]
THE HOUSE.
299
cattle. His dwelling consisted of (at least) seven
different houses, each, as already observed, with a
separate wall, door, and roof: — 1. Dwelling-house,
at least 27 feet in diameter : 2. Kitchen or cooking-
Fig. 8i.
Conjectural plan of homestead of a well-to-do farmer of the bo-aire class, con-
structed from descriptions given in Brehon Laws. " Dw," family dwelling-house :
of wickerwork, 27 feet in diameter (at least), with three outside sleeping-rooms
(which might be either round or rectangular) : " Kit," kitchen : " K," kiln (chiefly
for corn-drying): "B,"barn: " C," calf-house : " P," pig-house: "S," sheep-
house. Whole group surrounded by a circular rath, with one entrance. The
cows and horses were kept outside this enclosure.
house, at the back of the dwelling-house : 3. A kiln
for drying corn : 4. A barn in which corn was stored :
5. A sheep-house: 6. A calf -house: 7. A pig-sty.
These were all in one group close together ; and each
300 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
generally, though not always, consisted of the usual
round- shaped wicker-house with conical roof : the
whole group being surrounded by the lis or rath,
described farther on. In all houses of the more
comfortable class, the kitchen was separate from the
dwelling-house and placed at the back : and there
was a separate pantry for provisions. The barn was
oblong and had one side quite open, with the roof
supported at that side on posts.
The women had a separate apartment or a separate
house in the sunniest and pleasantest part of the
homestead. This was called a grianan [greenan],
which signifies a summer-house : a diminutive deri-
vative from grian, ' the sun.' The women's greenan
is constantly mentioned in Irish writings. In
Croghan the greenan was placed over the for dorus
or lintel, as much as to say it was placed in front
over the common sitting-room : and probably it
occupied some such position in most houses. In
great houses there was one apartment called "the
House of conversation," answering to the modern
11 drawing-room," where the family often sat, espe-
cially to receive visitors.
2. Interior Arrangements and Sleejring
Accommodation.
It will be shown farther on that in large houses
there were separate sleeping-rooms. But among the
ordinary run of comfortable, well-to-do people, includ-
ing many of the upper classes, the family commonly
lived, ate, and slept in the one principal apartment,
as was the case in the houses of the Anglo-Saxons,
CHAP. XVI.]
THE HOUSE.
301
the English, the Germans, and the Scandinavians of
the same period. In the better class of houses in
Ireland there were, ranged along the wall, little
compartments or cubicles, each containing a bed, or
sometimes more, for one or more persons, with its
head to the wall. The wooden partitions enclosing
the beds were not carried up to the roof; they were
probably about eight or nine feet high, so that the
several compartments were open at top. A little
•nrr lZT t=t tr
EJDWFI
&
s>
a
a<?
<?
Fig. 82.
Conjectural plan of a good-class house, where the family lived, ate, and slept
in the one large apartment : constructed from descriptions in Tales and Brehon
Laws. (House here made quadrangular, but might be round or oval.) Eight
itndtts or sleeping-places, each with one bed : some beds for one person, some
for two, some for three. Four low, small tables and a number of seats are shown,
all movable. Seats at ends of cubicles outside are fixed. Five supporting posts,
(shown by little circles) : fire near middle. Openings or windows in walls not
marked here ; neither are the doors in doorways of house and imdas.
compartment of this kind, whether open or closed
overhead, was called an inula. The primary mean-
ing of imda is a ' bed ' ; but by a natural extension
of meaning the word is often used to denote the
whole compartment or cubicle with its bedstead.
At the foot of each imda outside, and projecting
into the main room, there was a low fixed seat, often
stuffed with some soft material, for use during the
day. Besides these there were on the floor of the
302 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III,
main apartment a number of detached movable day-
couches or seats — all low — with one or more low
tables of some sort.
The preceding description of the disposition of the
beds applies to the better class of houses. The lower
classes of people probably slept, like those of Wales
and Scotland of those times, on beds or pallets
ranged along the wall with little or no attempt to
screen one from another. Giraldus describes the
Welsh as sleeping in this manner with their heads
to the circular wall and their feet towards the
fire.
The fire was in or near the middle, and the people
sat or reclined by day all round it ; while the smoke
escaped through an opening in the roof : a custom
which, as Scott records, existed in Scotland down to
200 years ago. In England also, down to the time
of Elizabeth, before coal was brought into domestic
use, and when wood was the general fuel, the fire
was lighted — as in Ireland and Scotland — in the
centre of the single big room or hall, or up against
one of the walls, the smoke escaping through a hole
in the roof.
The bedstead within the inula, in the best class of
houses, consisted of four pillars connected by rails,
with a canopy overhead, and curtains running by
rings on copper rods. Such a bed was designated
a 'protected,' enclosed, or testered bed: and this
designation occurs so often that such beds must have
been pretty common. Near the foot of the bed and
within the imda there was a rack with pins or hooks
for hanging clothes or other articles on. The com-
monest name for a bed was lepad, which, in the form
CHAP. XVI.] THE HOUSE. 303
leabadh [labba], is the term in use at the present
day. This word was also used to denote a couch for
day use, which had generally a little table beside it
for food and drink.
As distinct from the inula and bedstead, the bed-
tick or mattress was called dergud [dergu]. The
word colcaid [culkee] was sometimes applied to a bed-
tick, and also to a quilt, blanket, or other covering.
The bed- coverings were brought out by day to be
aired and sunned. White linen sheets were used,
and in grand houses they were often embroidered
with figures.
Beds of the best class were stuffed with feathers.
Straw was often used, subjected to some sort of
previous preparation. Beds were sometimes made
of rushes — as in Wales — especially in cases of
emergency or for temporary use. When Cuculainn
and Ferdiad had finished their day's fighting, their
attendants prepared beds of fresh rushes for them.
When the Fena of Erin were out on their hunting
excursions, they put up hunting-booths each evening,
after which — to use the words of Keating: — "Each
man constructed his bed of the brushwood of the
forest, moss, and fresh rushes. The brushwood was
laid next the ground ; over that was laid the moss ;
and the fresh rushes were spread over all: which
three materials are designated in old books ' the three
bed-materials of the Fena.' " The people often used
beds of hides stuffed with some soft material : or
perhaps they simply spread the skin on the top of
straw or rushes. The Senchus Mor mentions " a
poor sick man lying on the hides." A pillow was
used for the head, often *macle of feathers in a case of
304
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE.
[PART III.
wild-deer skin. The most common word for a pillow
was adart [eye-art] , which is used to this day hy
speakers of Irish.
Caslle of Athlone : erected by John de Grey, Lord Justiciary, or Governor,
of Ireland, 1210-1213. One of the Anglo-Norman castles referred to below.
(From Mrs. Hall's Ireland.)
Often two and sometimes three persons slept in
the same bed. It was a mark of distinction to
set apart a bed for one. Maildune and his men
came to a certain house in which were a number
of bed-couches, one intended for Maildune alone,
and each of the others for three of his people. One
of the complaints of the unreasonable demands of the
poets who were on a visit to Guaire [Goory], king of
Connaught, was that they insisted on a separate bed
for each.
CHAP. XVI.] THE HOUSE. 805
In great homesteads there were sleeping-houses
or apartments distinct and separate both from the
sitting- or banquet-room and from one another, each
probably circular and having a conical roof of its
own: often called tech-leptlta, i.e. 'bed-house.' "We
have distinct statements in our ancient records ' ' —
says 0 'Curry — " that different members of the same
family had distinct houses (and not mere apartments)
within the same rath, dun, lis, or caher : that the
lord or master had a sleeping-house, his wife a
sleeping-house, his sons and daughters, if he had
such, separate sleeping-houses, and so on, besides
places of reception for strangers and visitors." But
this applies to the great houses belonging to people
of rank. And even in many high-class houses it
was usual to put two or three in the same room,
with a bed for each.
It was a common practice in the better class of
houses to strew the floor with rushes : and when
distinguished visitors were expected, the old rushes
were removed and fresh ones supplied. The use
of rushes for this purpose was so well understood
that there was a special knife for cutting them ; and
such a knife is enumerated among the household
articles in the house of a brewy. Sometimes the
floor was covered with soft, green-leaved birch-
branches, with rushes strewn over them. We know
that this custom of covering the floor with rushes
also prevailed in England, where it was continued
down to the time of Elizabeth. It was expected
that the kitchen of a bo-aire chief should be kept
strewn with fresh straw, which one would think a
dangerous practice.
x
306 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
3. Outer Premises and Defence.
The homesteads had to be fenced in to protect them
from robbers and wild animals. This was usually
done by digging a deep circular trench, the clay from
which was thrown up on the inside. This was
shaped and faced ; and thus was formed, all round,
a high mound or dyke with a trench outside, and
having one opening for a door or gate. Whenever
water was at hand, the trench was flooded as an
additional security : and there was a bridge opposite
the opening, which was raised, or closed in some way,
at night. The houses of the Gauls were fenced round
in a similar manner. Houses built and fortified in
the way here described continued in use in Ireland
till the thirteenth or fourteenth century.
These old circular forts are found in every part of
Ireland, but more in the south and west than else-
where; many of them still very perfect— but of
course the timber houses are all gone. Almost all
are believed in popular superstition to be the haunts
of fairies. They are now known by various names —
lis, rath, brugh, miir, dun, moat, eaiseal [cashel], and
cathair [caher] : the cashels, murs, and cahers being
usually built of stone without mortar. These are
generally the very names found in the oldest manu-
scripts. The forts vary in size from 40 or 50 feet in
diameter, through all intermediate stages up to 1500
feet : the size of the homestead depending on the
rank or means of the owner. Very often the flat
middle space is raised to a higher level than the
surrounding land, and sometimes there is a great
CHAP. XVI.] THE HOUSE. 807
mound in the centre, with a flat top, as seen in
the illustration, on which the strong wooden house
of the chief stood. Forts of this exact type are still
to he seen in England, Wales, and Scotland, as well
as in various parts of the Continent ; but they are
most numerous in Ireland. Round the very large
forts there are often three or more great circumval-
lations, sometimes as many as seven. The " moat or
fort of Kilfinnane," here figured, has three.
■5*^~r_-J.—
Fig. 84.
The great " Moat of Kilfinnane," Co. Limerick, believed to be oge of the
seats of the kings of Munster. Total diameter 320 feet. (From a drawing by
the author, 1854.)
A dun, sometimes also called dind, dinn, and dingna,
was the residence of a Pa [ree] or king : according to
law it should have at least two surrounding walls
with water between. Round the great forts of kings
or chiefs were grouped the timber dwellings of the
fudirs and other dependents who were not of the
immediate household, forming a sort of village.
In most of the forts, both large and small, whether
with flat areas or with raised mounds, there are
underground chambers, commonly beehive -shaped,
which were probably used as storehouses, and in
case of sudden attack as places of refuge for women
and children. In the ancient literature there are
x2
308 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
many references to thern as places of refuge. The
Irish did not then know the use of mortar, or how to
build an arch, any more than the ancient Greeks ;
and these chambers are of dry-stone work, built
with much rude skill, the dome being formed by
the projection of one stone beyond another, till
the top was closed in by a single flag.
Where stone was abundant the surrounding rampart
was often built of dry masonry, the stones being
Fig. 85.
Staigue Fort in Kerry. Of stones without mortar. External diameter 114
feet : wall 13 feet thick at bottom, 5 feet at top. (From 'Wood-Martin's Pagan
Ireland, and that from Wilde's Catalogue.)
fitted with great exactness. In some of these struc-
tures the stones are very large, and then the style of
building is termed cyclopean. Many great stone
fortresses of the kind described here, usually called
caher, Irish cathair, still remain near the coasts of
Sligo, Galway, Clare, and Kerry, and a few in
Antrim and Donegal : two characteristic examples
are Greenan-Ely, the ancient palace of the kings of
the northern Hy Neill, in Donegal, and Staigue Fort
near Sneem in Kerry. The most magnificent fortress
of this kind in all Ireland is Dun Aengus on a per-
pendicular cliff right over the Atlantic Ocean on the
south coast of Great Aran Island.
CHAP. XVI.]
THE HOUSE,
309
At the most accessible side of some of these stone
cabers, or all round if necessary, were placed a
number of large standing stones firmly fixed in the
ground, in no order— quite irregular— and a few feet
apart. This was a very effectual precaution against
Fig. 86.
Dun-Aengus on Great Island of Aran, on the edge of a cliff overhanging the
sea: circular caher: without mortar: standing-stones intended to prevent a rush
of a body of enemies. (From Wilde's Lough Corrib.)
a sudden rush of a body of assailants. Beside some
of the existing cahers these stones, or large numbers
of them, still remain in their places (as shown in
fig. 86).
The cash el was a strong stone wall round a king's
house, or round a monastery ; of uncemented stones
in pagan times, but often built with mortar when in
connexion with monasteries. The caher was distin-
guished from the cashel by being generally more
massive in structure, with much thicker walls. The
cahers are almost confined to the south and west of
Ireland. Buildings like our cahers are also found
on the Continent.
That the wooden dwelling-houses were erected
within the enclosing lis, or rath, is abundantly evident
310 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE, [PART III.
from the records. Queen Maive Lederg (not Queen
Maive of Croghan) is recorded to have built the rath
near Tara, now called from her, Rath-Maive : " and
she built a choice house within that rath." There
were often several dwelling-houses within one large
rath : inside the great rath at Emain there were at
least three large houses, with others smaller : the
Rath-na-Righ at Tara had several houses within it :
and in the romantic story of Cormac in Fairyland,
we are told that he saw " a very large kingly dun
which had four houses within it."
The rampart enclosing a homestead was usually
planted on top with bushes or trees, or with a close
thick hedge, for shelter and security : or there was a
strong palisade on it. Lisses and raths such as we
see through the country are generally round or oval :
but they are occasionally quadrangular. Vitrified
forts, i.e. having the clay, gravel, or stone of the
rampart converted into a coarse glassy substance
through the agency of enormous fires, are found in
various parts of Ireland as well as in Scotland : and
similar forts are still to be seen in several parts of
the Continent.
Immediately outside the outer door of the rath was
an ornamental lawn or green called aurla, urla, or
erla, which was regarded as forming part of the
homestead: "then queen Maive went out through
the door of the Uss into the aurla, and three times
fifty maidens along with her." Beside the dim ovlis,
but beyond and distinct from the aurla, was a large
level sward or green called a faithche [faha], which
was chiefly used for athletic exercises and games of
various kinds. Some idea of its size may be formed
CHAP. XVI.]
THE HOUSE.
311
from the statement in the law that the faithche of a
brewy extends as far as the voice of a bell (i.e. of the
small bell of those times) or the crowing of a cock
can be heard. The higher the rank of the chief the
larger the faithche. The haggard for grain-stacks,
which was always near the homestead, was called
Fig. 87.
Carlow Castle in 1843 : believed to have been erected by Hugh de Lacy, who
was appointed Governor of Ireland in 1179. One of the Anglo-Norman castles
referred to at p. 313, below. (From Mrs. Hall's Ireland.)
ithlann, from ith, ' corn.' At a little distance from
the dwelling it was usual to enclose an area with a
strong rampart, into which the cattle were driven for
safety by night. This was what was called a badhun
[bawn], i.e. 'cow-keep,' from ba, pi. of bo, 'a cow,'
and dun. This custom continued down to a late time.
812
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
The outer defence, whether of clay, or stone, or
timber, that surrounded the homestead was generally
whitened with lime — a practice often referred to in old
Irish literature. The great ramparts of Tara must
have shone brilliantly over the surrounding plain :
for it is called " White-sided Tara," in some old Irish
writings.
Fig. 88.
Dundrum Castle, near Newcastle.iCounty Down. Built at end of 12th century
by John de Courcy, on the very site of the old Irish fortress called Dun Rury,
which covered the summit of the rock. The great earthworks belonging to the
original dun still remain at the base of the rock at one side, but are not seen in
this figure. (From Kilk. Archaeol. Journ.)
In modern times, when the native knowledge of
Irish history and antiquities had greatly degenerated,
and the light of our own day had not yet dawned,
many writers attributed the ancient Irish raths and
duns to the Danes, so that it became the fashion to
call them " Danish raths or forts": but this idea has
been long since exploded.
CHAP. XVI.] THE HOUSE. 313
The Anglo-Normans built stone castles in Ireland
according to their fashion : and not unfrequently
they selected the very site, or the very vicinity, of
the old Irish fortresses : for an Anglo-Norman had
at least as keen an eye for a good military position as
an old Irish warrior. Accordingly the circumvalla-
tions of the ancient native forts still remain round the
ruins of many of the Anglo-Norman castles. It is to
be observed that the Irish began to abandon their
earthen forts and build stone castles — many of them
round like the older earthen forts and cahers — shortly
before the arrival of the Anglo-Normans in 1169 :
but this was probably in imitation of their warlike
neighbours.
Crannoges. — For greater security, dwellings were
often constructed on artificial islands made with
stakes, trees, and bushes, covered with earth and
stones in shallow lakes, or on small, flat natural
islands if they answered. These were called by the
name crannog [crannoge], a word derived from crann,
1 a tree,' as they were constructed almost entirely of
wood. Communication with the shore was carried
on by means of a small boat, commonly dug out of
one tree- trunk. Usually one family only, with their
attendants, lived on a crannoge island : but sometimes
several families, each having a separate wooden house.
Where a lake was well suited for it — pretty large and
shallow — several islands were formed, each with one
or more families, so as to form a kind of little
crannoge village.
Crannoge dwellings were in use from the most
remote prehistoric times ; they are very often noticed,
both by native Irish and by English writers, and they
314 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
continued down to the time of Elizabeth. Great
numbers of crannoges have of late years been ex-
plored, and the articles found in them show that they
were occupied by many generations of residents. In
most of them rude " dug-out " boats have been
found, many specimens of which are preserved in the
National Museum, Dublin, and elsewhere. Lake-
dwellings similar to the Irish crannoges were in use
in early times all over Europe, and explorers have
examined many of them, especially in Switzerland.
4. Domestic Vessels.
The material in most general use for vessels was
wood ; but there were vessels of gold, silver, bronze,
and brass, all of which, however,
were expensive. Occasionally,
we read of iron being used.
There were also vessels of stone :
but these were not much in
use. Drinking-goblets of glass
have been already noticed ; and
Stone Drinking-cup, 4^ in. . .
wide across the bowi. Found, leather vessels lor holding liquids
££±T££££3 will be described in chap, xsii.,
sect. 5.
For making wooden vessels beech was oftenest
employed : but the best were made of yew. A large
proportion of the timber vessels used were made of
staves bound by hoops, like those in use at present,
indicating skill and accuracy in planing and jointing.
In a certain old Irish list of yew-tree vessels, several
are mentioned as having grown so old that the hoops
at last fell of.
CHAP. XVI.]
THE HOUSE.
315
A large open hooped tub or vat, with two handles
or ears like those of the
present day, was called
by several names, the
most common of which
was dabach [dauvagh].
Another name for a tub
or trough was lothar
[lolier] : grains left
after brewing, used for
feeding pigs,
often kept in a
Bronze Drinking-vessel in the National
Museum: 7% inches wide : hammered out
and shaped with great skill from one
single thin flat piece of metal. Found in a
crannoge in County Roscommon. (From
Wilde's Catalogue.)
were
lothar.
A moderately-sized tub with two
handles, called a drolmach, was
used by women for bringing water.
This word is still in use and pro-
nounced drowlagh. The people used
a sort of pitcher or hand-vessel
called a (Morn [keelorn], having a
uag or circular handle in
s side, from which it was
Iso called stuagach, i.e.
circle-handled.'
A corn [cum]
or horn was a
drinking -vessel,
usually made
from a bullock's
horn, hollowed
out and often
Fig. 91.
The "Kavanagh Horn," a Corn, 22 inches along the
convex or under side. On a brass plate round the top is
this inscription:— "TIGERNANUS O'LAUAN ME FECIT
DEO GRACIAS. I. H. S.": which gives the name of
the artist, Tiernan O'Lavan. This is not a very old
specimen. (From Wilde's Catalogue.)
hi
o'hly orna-
mented with
metal-work and gems. Drinking-coms were made at
316
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE.
[PART III.
borne from cows' or bullocks' boras ; but very large
ones were imported and much valued. These corns
were sometimes given as a part of the stipend due
from one king to another, as we find by many entries
Fig. 92.
Ancient Irish vessel, 15 inches high : made out of a single piece of oak. The
carving on the side is the Opus Hibemicum or interlaced work. The whole
outer surface was originally painted in a kind of dark enamel, portions of which
still remain. (From Kilk. Archceol. Journ.)
in the Book of Rights, where they are often called
curved corns from their shape. Sometimes they were
brightly coloured.
The escra was a drinking-goblet : Cormac's Glos-
sary says it was a copper vessel for distributing water;
CHAP. XVI.]
THE HOUSE.
317
but it was sometimes made of silver. The sons of
O'Corra, in the course of their voyage, landed on
an island, where a lady came towards them having
in one hand a copper cUorn full of food like cheese,
and in the other a silver escra. The word lestar
was applied to vessels of various kinds, among others
to drinking - vessels : it was
often used as a generic term
for vessels of all kinds, includ-
ing ships. The beautiful lestar
represented in figure 92 was
found some years ago, five feet
deep in a bog.
The simple word cua, and
its derivatives cuad and cuach,
all mean 'a cup.' Cuach, which
is the common term for 'cup,'
is retained in Scotland to this
day, and used as an English
word in the forms of quai'jli
and cogue, for a drinking-cup.
Ian, gen. ena, means 'a vessel':
it is often applied to a small
drinking-mug.
The usual drinking-vessel among the common
people, especially at meals and drinking-bouts, was
a mether (so called from the drink called mead),
made of wood, with two or four handles : it
circulated from hand to hand, each passing it to
his neighbour after taking a drink. Many of these
wethers are preserved in museums, of which two are
figured next page. People drank from the corners.
A sort of hamper or vessel called a riisc [roosk]
Fig.
93-
Grotesque figure of a man
drinking : from the Book of
Kells : 7th or 8th century.
(From AVilde's Catalogue.)
318
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
made of bark-strips on a wicker-work frame, was
much used in farmhouses.
Fig. 94. Fig. 95.
Wooden Methers. (From \Vilde"s Catalogue.)
A churn was known by several names — among
others cuinneog [quinnoge], which is the present name.
The form of churn used among the ancient Irish
was that in which the cream or
milk is agitated by a dash worked
with the hand. For bringing
home milk from the milking-place,
Adamnan mentions a wooden
vessel of such a make that it could
be strapped on the back. The
lid was kept in its place by a
wooden cross-bar (called gercenn)
which ran through two holes at
opposite sides near the rim.
In the Tripartite Life, the
cup that St. Patrick was drink-
ing out of at Tara, when the druid attempted to
poison him, is called ardig, which is a common old
word for a drinking-goblet. A balldn seems to have
been a simple, cheap, wooden drinking-cup in very
Fig. 96.
Pail or bucket, made
out of one piece of red
deal : i foot long. Cover
made of yew, pressed
into shape when softened.
Now in the National
Museum. (From 'Wilde's
Catalogue.)
CHAP.
XVI.]
THE HOUSE.
319
general use : in one place, Cormac's Glossary defines
it as " a poor man's vessel." Keating applies it to a
drinking- cup ; and it was sometimes also applied to
a milk-pail. In Connaught it is used to designate
round holes in rocks usually filled with water: which
use modern antiquarians have borrowed, and they
now apply "ballaun" to those small cup-like hollows,
generally artificial, often found in rocks, and almost
always containing water.
Escann is described in
Cormac's Glossary as a
vessel for distributing
water, derived from esc,
' water,' and " cann, the
name of a vessel." This
last phrase is interesting
as showing the existence
in ancient Gaelic of a
term for a drinking- vessel
identical with the English
word can. The word
cernin [kerneen] is given
in Cormac's Glossary as
meaning miass, i.e. a dish
on which food is placed at
table. Cernin is a diminutive of the simple word
cern or cearn, which is used to denote a dish of any
kind, for measuring commodities, such as grain.
The word miass or mias, given above from Cormac's
Glossary, is very commonly used for a platter or
dinner dish. Coire, ' a caldron ' ; cusal ; criol ; and
some other terms, as well as the vessels they denote,
will be dealt with elsewhere in this book.
Earthenware glazed pitcher, 13 inches
high. Found in a crannoge in County
Down. (From Wilde's Catalogue.)
b20 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
Earthen vessels of various shapes and sizes were in
constant use. They were made either on a potter's
wheel, or on a mould, or on both. This appears
from a curious commentary on the Latin text of a
passage in the Psalms, written in the Irish language
by an Irishman, in the eighth or ninth century,
contained in a manuscript now in Milan. This old
writer, evidently taking his illustration from his
native country, explains " a potter's wheel " as "a
round wheel on which the potters make the vessels,
or a round piece of wood about which they [the
vessels] are while being made." The " round piece
of wood" was the block or mould on which they
were first formed roughly, to be afterwards perfected
on the wheel.
It will be seen from what precedes that there was
in old times in Ireland quite as great a variety of
vessels of all kinds, with distinct names, as there is
among the people of the present day.
5. Royal Residences.
Almost all the ancient residences of the over-
kings of Ireland, as well as those of the provincial
and minor kings, are known at the present day ; and
in most of them the circular ramparts and mounds
are still to be seen, more or less dilapidated after the
long lapse of time. As there were many kings of
the several grades, and as each was obliged to have
three suitable houses (p. 21, above), the royal resi-
dences were numerous ; of which the most important
will be noticed here. In addition to these, several
of the great strongholds described at pp. 39 to 42,
supra, were royal residences.
CHAP. XVI.] THE HOUSE. 321
Tara.— The remains of Tara stand on the summit
and down the sides of a gently-sloping, round, grassy
hill, rising 500 feet over the sea, or about 200 over
the surrounding plain, situated six miles south-east
of Navan, in Meath, and two miles from the Midland
Kailway station of Kilmessan. It was in ancient
times universally regarded as the capital of all
Ireland ; so that in building palaces elsewhere it was
usual to construct their principal houses and halls
in imitation of those of Tara. It was the residence
of the supreme kings of Ireland from prehistoric
times, down to the sixth century, when it was de-
serted in the time of King Dermot, the son of Fergus
Kervall, on account of St. Euadan's curse. Although
it has been abandoned to decay and ruin for thirteen
centuries, it still presents striking vestiges of its
ancient importance.
Preserved in the Book of Leinster and other
ancient manuscripts there are two detailed Irish
descriptions of Tara, written by two distinguished
scholars, one in the tenth century by Kineth
O'Hartigan, and the other in the eleventh by Cuan
O'Lochain. Both these learned men examined the
remains personally, and described them as they saw
them, after four or five centuries of ruin, giving the
names, positions, and bearings of the several features
with great exactness. More than sixty years ago
Dr. Petrie and Dr. O'Donovan made a most careful
detailed examination of the hill and its monuments ;
and with the aid of those two old topographical
treatises they were able, without much difficulty, to
identify most of the chief forts and other remains,
and to restore their ancient names. The following
Fig. 98.
iPlan of Tara, as it exists at the present day. (From the two Plans given by Petrie in his Essay on Tara.)
CHAP. XVI.] THE HOUSE. 323
are the most important features still existing, and
they are all perfectly easy to recognise by any one
who walks over the hill with the plan given here in
his hand. It is to be borne in mind that the forts
now to be seen were the ramparts or defences sur-
rounding and protecting the houses. The houses
themselves, as has been already explained (p. 306),
were of wood, and have, of course, all disappeared.
The principal fortification is Rath Righ [Eatli-
Ree], the ' Fort of the kings,' also called Caher Crofinn,
an oval occupying the summit and southern slope
of the hill, measuring 853 feet in its long diameter.
The circumvallation can still be traced all round ;
and consisted originally of two walls or parapets
with a deep ditch between. This seems to have
been the original fort erected by the first occupiers
of the hill, and the most ancient of all the monu-
ments of Tara.
Within the enclosure of Eath Righ are two large
mounds, the Forrad [Forra] and Tech Cormaic,
beside each other, and having portions of their
ramparts in common. The Forrad has two outer
rings or ramparts and two ditches : its extreme
outer diameter is nearly 300 feet. The name
" Forrad " signifies ' a place of public meeting,' and
also ' a judgment-seat,' cognate with Latin forum ;
so that it seems obvious that this is the structure
referred to by the writer of the ancient Norse work
called " Kongs Skuggsjo " or 'mirror for kings.'
This old writer, in his description of Tara,
says : — " And in what was considered the highest
point of the city the king had a fair and well-built
castle, and in that castle he had a hall fair and
y 2
324 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
spacious, and in that hall he was wont to sit in
judgment."
On the top of the Forrad there now stands a remark-
able pillar-stone six feet high (with six feet more in
the earth), which Petrie believed was the Ida Fail,
the inauguration stone of the Irish over-kings, the
Fig. 99.
The Mound called the Forrad, at Tara. (From Mrs. Hall's Ireland.)
stone that roared when a king of the true Milesian
race stood on it (see p. 20) ; but recent inquiries
have thrown grave doubts on the accuracy of this
opinion.
Tech Cormaic (' Cormac's house') was so called
from the illustrious King Cormac mac Art, who
reigned a.d. 254 to 277. It is a circular rath con-
sisting of a well-marked outer ring or circumvallation,
with a ditch between it and the inner space ; the
extreme external diameter being 244 feet. We may
probably assign its erection to King Cormac, which
fixes its age.
Duma nan Giall or the 'mound of the hostages,'
situated just inside the ring of Rath Righ, is a circular
earthen mound, 13 feet high, 66 feet in diameter at
the base, with a flat top, 25 feet in diameter. The
CHAP. XVI.] THE HOUSE. 325
timber house in which the hostages lived, as already
mentioned (pp. 22, 23), stood on the flat top.
A little to the west of the Mound of the Hostages
stands another mound called Duma na Bo (the 'mound
of the cow'), about 40 feet in diameter and 6 feet
high. It was also called Glas Temrach (the ' Glas of
Tara '), which would seem to indicate that the cele-
brated legendary cow called Glas Gavlin, which
belonged to the Dedannan smith Goibniu, was
believed to have been buried under this mound.
About 100 paces from Kath Kigh on the north-
east is the well called Nemnach (' bright' or « spark-
ling '), so celebrated in the legend of Cormac's mill —
the first mill erected in Ireland, for which see chap.
xxi., below. A little stream called Nith (' shining')
formerly ran from it, which at some distance from
the source turned the mill. The well is now nearly
dried up ; but it could be easily renewed.
Rath na Seanaid (the ' rath of the synods ' : pron.
Rath-na-Shanny), now popularly called " the King's
Chair," has been partly encroached upon by the wall
of the modern church : the two ramparts that sur-
rounded it are still well-marked features. Within
the large enclosure are two mounds, 106 and 33
feet in diameter respectively. Three Christian synods
are recorded as having been held here, from which it
had its name. Near the Rath of the Synods, and
within the enclosure of the modern church, stood
Adamnans Cross, of which the shaft still remains,
with a human figure rudely sculptured in relief on it.
On the northern slope of the hill are the remains
of the Banqueting-Hall, the only structure in Tara
not round or oval. It consists of two parallel mounds,
326 social and Domestic life. [part in.
the remnants of the side walls of the old Hall, which,
as it now stands, is 759 feet long by 46 feet wide ;
but it was originally both longer and broader. It is
described in the old documents as having twelve (or
fourteen) doors : and this description is fully corrobo-
rated by the present appearance of the ruin, in which
six door-openings are clearly marked in each side wall.
Probably there was also a door at each end : but all
traces of these are gone.
The whole site of the Hall was occupied by a great
timber building, 45 feet high or more, ornamented,
carved, and painted in colours. Within this the Feis
or Convention of Tara held its meetings, which will
be found described in chap, xxv., sect. 1, farther on.
Here also were held the banquets from which the
Hall was named Tech Midchuarta [Meecoorta] , the
1 mead-circling house ' ; and there was an elaborate
subdivision of the inner space, with the compart-
ments railed or partitioned off, to accommodate the
guests according to rank and dignity. For, as will
be seen in next chapter, they were very particular
in seating the great company in the exact order of
dignity and priority. From this Hall, moreover, the
banqueting-halls of other great houses commonly
received the name of Tech Midchuarta.
Bath Caelchon was so called from a Munster chief
named Caelchon, who was contemporary with Cormac
mac Art, third century. He died in Tara, and was
interred in a leacht or earn, beside which was raised
the rath in commemoration of him. The rath is
220 feet in diameter ; and the very earn of stones
heaped over the grave still remains on the north-east
margin of the rath.
CHAP. XVI.] THE HOUSE. 827
Hath Grainne is a high, well-marked rath, 258 feet
in diameter. It received its name from the lady
Grainne [Graunya: 2 syll.], daughter of King Cormac
mac Art, and betrothed wife of Finn mac Cumail.
She eloped with Dermot O'Dyna, and the whole
episode is told in detail in the historic romance
called " The Pursuit of Dermot and Grainne."* This
mound, and also the smaller mound beside it on the
south called the Fotkad [Folia] of Bath Grdinne, are
now much hidden by trees.
A little north-west of the north end of the
Banqueting-Hall, and occupying the space north of
Rath Grainne and Rath Caelchon, was the sheshin or
marsh of Tara, which was drained and dried up only
a few years before Petrie's time : but the well which
supplied it, Tober Finn (Finn's well), still remains.
Eath Laegaire [Rath Laery], situated south of
Rath Righ, was so called from Laegaire, king of
Ireland in St. Patrick's time, by whom, no doubt, it
was erected. It is about 300 feet in diameter, and
was surrounded by two great rings or ramparts,
of which one is still very well marked, and the
other can be partially traced. Laegaire was buried
in the south-east rampart of this rath, fully armed
and standing up in the grave, with his face towards
the south as if fighting against his enemies, the
Leinster men. (See chap, xxvii., sect. 3, farther on.)
West of Rath Righ was the well called Laegh [Lay],
a name signifying ' calf ' : it is now dried up, though
the ground still remains moist. In this well, accord-
ing to the seventh-century Annotations of Tirechan,
* This fine story will be found in Joyce's Old Celtic Romaic
828 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
St. Patrick baptised his first convert at Tara, Ere the
son of Dego, who afterwards became bishop of Slane,
and who is commemorated in the little hermitage still
to be seen beside the Boyne (p. 137, above).
The five main sliges [slees], or roads, leading from
Tara in five different directions through Ireland, will
be found described in chap, xxiv., sect. 1. Of these
portions of three are still traceable on the hill. The
modern road traverses and covers for some distance
the sites of two of them, Slige Bala and Sli<je
Midluac/wa, as seen on the plan : Slige Asail still
remains, and is sometimes turned to use.
In one of the ancient poetical accounts quoted
by Petrie, it is stated that the houses of the general
body of people who lived near Tara were scattered
on the slope and over the plain east of the hill.
In connexion with Tara, two other great circular
forts ought to be mentioned. A mile south of
Ptath Righ lies Bath Maive, which is very large — 673
feet in diameter ; it forms a striking object as seen
from the hill, and is well worth examining. It was
erected, according to one account, by Queen Maive
(not Queen Maive of Croghan), wife of Art the
solitary, the father of King Cormac mac Art, which
would fix the period of its erection as the beginning
of the third century. The other fort is FtatJimiles,
S00 feet in diameter, lying one mile north of the
Banqueting-Hall : but nothing is known of its
history.
After the abandonment of Tara, the kings of
Ireland took up their abode where they pleased,
each commonly in one of his other residences, within
his own province or immediate territory. One of
CHAP. XVI.] THE HOUSE. 829
these seals was Dun-na-Sciath (the ' Fort of the
Shields': pron. Dobn-na-Skee), of which the
circular fort still remains on the western shore of
Lough Ennell in County Westmeath. Another was
at Rath, near the western shore of Lough Lene
in Westmeath, two miles from the present town of
Castlepollard. This residence was occupied for a
time hy the Danish tyrant Turgesius, so that the
fort, which is one of the finest in the country, is now
known as Dun-Torgeis or Turgesius' fort ; while
the Old Irish name has been lost.
It has been already stated (p. 15) that Tuathal the
Legitimate, king of Ireland in the second century,
built four palaces at Tara, Tailltenn, Ushnagh,
and Tlachtga. The fort of Tlachtga still remains
on the summit of the Hill of Ward near the village
of Athboy in Meath. There were royal residences
also at Dunseverick in Antrim, the ancient Dun-
Sobairce ; at Rathbeagh on the Nore, where the
rath is still to be seen ; at Dun-Aenguis on Great
Aran Island ; and on the site of the present Baily
Lighthouse at Howth, where several of the defensive
fosses of the old palace-fort of Dun-Criffan can still
be traced.
Emain. — Next to Tara in celebrity was the palace
of Emain or Emain-Macha, or, as its name is
Latinised, E mania. It was for 600 years the re-
sidence of the kings of Ulster, and attained its
greatest glory in the first century of the Christian
era, during the reign of Concobar (or Conor)
mac Nessa, king of Ulster. It was the centre
round which clustered the romantic tales of the
Bed Branch Knights. The most ancient written
330 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
Irish traditions assign the foundation of this palace
to Macha of the Golden Hair, wife of Cimbaeth
[Kimbay], king of Ireland three or four centuries
before the Christian era. From that period it con-
tinued to be the residence of the Ulster kings till
a. d. 335, when it was burned and destroyed by
three princes — brothers — commonly known as the
Three Collas — after which it was abandoned to ruin.
The imposing remains of this palace, consisting of
a great mound surrounded by an immense circular
rampart and fosse half obliterated, the whole structure
covering about eleven English acres, lie two miles
west of Armagh. Nay, the ruin retains to this day
the old name "Emain" slightly disguised ; for it is
familiarly called " The Navan Fort or Ring,,; in which
" Navan " correctly represents the sound 'u-Emain,
i.e. the original name with the Irish article 'n
prefixed.
When the Red Branch Knights came to the palace
each summer to be exercised in feats of arms, they
were lodged in a great house near Emain, called the
Craobh-Ruadh [Creeveroe], commonly Englished the
' Red Branch,' from which the whole body took their
name. The name of this house is also preserved :
for " Creeveroe" is still the name of a townland near
the Navan fort. So far as we can judge from old
tales, the Creeveroe seems to have been altogether
built of wood, with no earthen rampart round it,
which explains why the present townland of Creeveroe
contains no large fort like that of Emain.
Ailech or the Grianan of Ailech. — Another Ulster
palace, quite as important as Emain, was Ailech,
the ruins of which are* situated in County Donegal,
CHAP. XVI.] THE HOUSE. 331
on the summit of a hill 800 feet high, five miles
north-west from Derry, commanding a magnificent
view of Lough Foyle and Lough Swilly with the
surrounding country. It is a circular stone cashel
of dry masonry, 77 feet in internal diameter, the
wall about 13 feet thick at the base, and on the
outside sloping gradually inwards. This central
citadel was surrounded at wide intervals by five
concentric ramparts, three of which may still be
traced, the whole area originally including many
acres. According to the old tradition it was founded
by the Dedannans, and continued to be a royal
residence to the time of its destruction, sometimes
of the king of Ulster, and sometimes of the king
of Ireland. After the fourth century it was the
recognised residence of the northern Hy Neill kings,
down to the year 1101, when it was destroyed by the
Minister king Murkertagh, in retaliation for the
destruction of Kincora by the Ulstermen thirteen
years before. After this it was abandoned. For
nearly eight centuries it continued in a state of ruin,
the wall being almost levelled ; but it has lately
been rebuilt by Dr. Bernard, of Derry, a man of taste
and culture, who, as far as he could, restored it to
its original shape. The wall is now about 17 feet
high. It still retains — has all along retained — its
ancient name, in the form of Greenan-Ely, where
Ely correctly represents the sound of Ailiyh, the
genitive of Ailech.
Cruachan. — The chief palace of the kings of
Connaught was Cruachan (or, as it is now called,
Croghan) from times beyond the reach of history
down to the seventh century, It figures in various
832 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
parts of this book, and is chiefly celebrated as being
the residence of Ailill and Maive, king and queen
of the province, in the first century of the Christian
era. Here they held their court, which is described
in the Tales of the Red Branch Knights in a strain
of exaggerated magnificence : and from this the war-
like queen set forth with her army to ravage Ulster
and bring away the great brown bull which was the
main object of the expedition.
The remains, which are situated three miles north-
west from the village of Tulsk in Roscommon, are
not imposing : for the main features have been
effaced by cultivation. The principal rath, on which
stood the timber palace and the subordinate houses,
is merely a flat, green, circular moat about an
English acre in extent, elevated considerably above
the surrounding land, with hardly a trace of the
enclosing circumvallation. There are many other
forts all around, so that, in the words of O'Donovan,
the whole site may be said to be " the ruins of
a town of raths, having the large rath called Rath-
croghan placed in the centre" : but they are scattered
much more widely and at greater distances than
those at Tara. Besides the homestead forts there
are also, in the surrounding plain, numerous other
antiquarian remains, indicating a once busy centre
of royalty and active life — cromlechs, caves, pillar-
stones, and mounds, including the cemetery of
Relig-na-ree (about half a mile south of the main
rath), which will be described in chapter xxvii.
Ailenn or Attend, now Knockaulin. The most
important residences of the kings of Leinster were
Ailenn, Dinnrigh, Naas, Liamhain [Leevan], and
CHAP. XVI.]
THE HOUSE.
383
Belach-Chonglais or Baltinglass, in all of which the
raths still remain. Ailenn is a round hill, now
commonly called Knockaulin (aulin representing
'Ailenn'), near Kilcullen in Kildare, rising GOO feet
over sea-level, and 200 or 300 feet over the Curragh
of Kildare which lies adjacent, and over all the plain
around. The whole summit of the hill is enclosed
by a huge oval embankment, 514 by 440 yards, en-
closing an area of 37 statute acres, one of the largest
forts, if not the very largest, in Ireland. Within
this great enclosure stood the spacious ornamental
wooden houses in which, as we learn from our
records, the Leinster kings often resided.
_~fE^jJg3!^^--< -
<t<TN
Fig. ioo.
Dinnree in 1845. (From Mrs. Hall's Ireland.)
Dinnrigh. — One of the most noted, and probably
the oldest, of the Leinster palaces was Dinnrigh
[Dinnree : the ' dinn or fortress of kings ']. Besides
334 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PAKT III.
being very often mentioned in the records, it was the
scene of a tragedy which is related in detail in the
historical story called " The Destruction of Dinnree,"
contained in the Book of Leinster, which has been
edited and translated by Dr. Whitley Stokes. Some
two centuries and a half before the Christian era,
Cobhthach [Coffa] the Slender murdered the king
of Ireland — his own brother — and also the king's
son Ailill, and usurped the throne. But Ailill's son,
Lavra the Mariner, who fled to the Continent, re-
turned after some years with a party of Gauls, and
landed at Wexford, where he was joined by large
contingents of the men of Leinster and Munster,
who hated the usurper. Marching quickly and
silently by night to Dinnree, where the king then
happened to be holding court, he surrounded the
palace, and, setting fire to the houses while the
company were engaged in feasting, he burned all —
palace, king, and courtiers — to ashes. The fine
old fort still exists in good preservation. It is
situated on a high bank over the Eiver Barrow on
the west side, half a mile south of Leighlinbridge,
and is now commonly known by the name of
" Ballyknockan Moat." The moat or mound —
figured in the illustration, last page — is 237 feet in
diameter at the base ; the circular plateau on the
top, on which stood the timber houses, is 135 feet in
diameter, and 69 over the River Barrow.
Naas. — In old times Naas was a place of great
celebrity, where the Leinster tribes held some of
their periodical aenachs or fair-meetings, from which
it got the name of Nds-Laigen [Naas-Lyen], i.e. the
1 assembly-place of Leinster,' corresponding exactly
CHAP. XVI.] THE HOUSE. 835
with the name of Nenagh in Tipperary. There were
here two royal houses, the forts of which still remain.
One is an ordinary circular, flat rath, now called the
South Moat, situated near the southern end of the
town. The other, called the North Moat, is a high,
flat-topped mound on which the citadel once stood,
but which is now occupied by an ugly modern house.
Naas continued to be a residence of the Leinster
kings till the tenth century.
Fig. io r.
North Moat, Nans: remains of ancient palace. House on top modern.
(From a drawing by the author, 1S57.)
Belach Chonglais.— Another of the Leinster
palaces was at Baltinglass in the county Wicklow,
whose old name was Belach- Chonglais (Cuglas's road).
Here resided in the sixth century Branduff, the
powerful king who defeated and slew Aed mac
Ainmirech, king of Ireland, in the Battle of Dunbolg,
a.d. 598. On the hill rising over the town are two
great raths or forts, the remains of the old resi-
dences. One, now called Kathcoran, is on the very
summit, 1256 feet over sea-level. It is an oval,
about a quarter of a mile in its longer diameter,
336
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
having two ramparts, and containing about twenty-
five statute acres. The other and smaller fort, now
called Rathnagree, is on the northern slope of the
hill : it has also two ramparts, and covers about
seven acres.
Liamhain. — The name of Ldamhain or Dun-
Liamhna [Dun-lavna] is still preserved in that of
Dunlavin, a small village in the county Wicklow.
The mound of this residence is still to be seen
a mile south of the village : but it has lost its
old name and is now called " Tornant Moat."
(Tornant, 'nettle-mound': ominous of rain.)
Fig. 102.
Carbury Castle, County Kildare. (From a photograph.)
Side-Nechtain. — The hill of Carbury in Kildare
has a dim legendary history as a royal residence.
It was anciently called Side-Nechtain [Shee-Nechtan],
CHAP. XVI.] THE HOUSE. 837
i.e. l Neclitan's Shee or fairy-hill ' : showing that it
was the site of one of those elf-mounds described at
p. 106, supra. This Nechtan, according to the old
documents, was king of Leinster, and also a poet.
But the place contained a residence of a less
shadowy kind : for on the north-west slope there are
still two remarkable and very perfect military raths
or forts. Near the base of the hill is Trinity Well,
the source of the Boyne, the enchanted well that in
old time burst up and overwhelmed Boand, Nechtan's
queen. But in subsequent times the Christian
missionaries — as in case of many another wTell
(p. 164, above) — removed its heathenish character
and associations, and dedicated it to the Holy
Trinity. The Anglo-Norman De Berminghams, who
took possession of the district, having an eye to
something more substantial than Dedannan fairy
palaces, took advantage of the selection of their
immediate Milesian predecessors and built a splendid
castle not far from the old Irish fortresses, near the
summit, the ruins of which are now conspicuous for
leagues round the hill.
Cashel was one of the most renowned seats of
the North Munster kings, though not the oldest
as a royal residence. Its chief feature is the well-
known lofty isolated Rock overlooking the surround-
ing plain — the magnificent Golden Vale, as it is
called, from its fertility. Just before the arrival of
St. Patrick, Core, king of Munster, took possession
of the wrhole place, and on the summit of the rock
built a stronghold, which then became the chief
residence of the Munster kings, and continued so
till the beginning of the twelfth century. In 1101
z
338
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE.
King Murkertagh O'Brien dedicated the whole place
to the church, and handed it over to the ecclesiastical
authorities, since which time it figures chiefly in
ecclesiastical history. Then began to be erected
those splendid buildings which remain to this day ;
so that the "Rock of Cashel " is now well known as
containing the most imposing group of ecclesiastical
ruins in the United Kingdom.
Fig. 103.
Rock of Cashel (top of Round Tower appears to the right).
(From Brewer's Beauties of Ireland. Drawn by Petrie.)
Grianan Lachtna.— One of the ancestral resi-
dences of the Dalcassian kings of Thomond or North
Minister was Greenan-Lachtna, the fine old fort of
which is still to be seen occupying a noble site on
the south slope of Craglea in Clare, over the western
shore of Lough Derg, two miles north of Killaloe.
CHAP. XVI.]
THE HOUSE.
339
Kincora. — But when Brian Boru ascended the
throne, he came to live at Kincora, where the
remains of the palace have all disappeared, inas-
much as the site is now occupied by the town of
Killaloe. The O'Briens, as kings of Thomond,
continued to reside at Kincora for two centuries
after the Battle of Clontarf : but about 1214 they
removed their residence to Clonroad near Ennis.
One of the outlying forts, a very fine one, still
remains, however, beside the Shannon, a mile north
of Killaloe, and is now known by the name of Beal
Boru.
Fig. 104.
Caher Castle : on the site of the old palace. (From Mrs. Hall's Ireland.)
Caher. — Another of the Munster palaces, was on
a little rocky island in the river Suir at the town of
z2
340 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
Calier in Tipperary. It was originally called Dun-
iasf/ach [eesga], the 'fish-abounding dun,' from the
earthen dun that constituted the original fortress-
palace. This was succeeded by a circular stone
calier, which gave the place its present name. The
castle was built by the Anglo-Normans on the site
of the calier.
Still another of these Munster palaces was Dun-
gclaire [Doonglara], the fort of which is still in
good preservation, standing at the northern base of
the mountain of Slievereagh near Kilfinnane, two
miles nearly north-west from Ballylanders, on the
left of the road as you go from this village to
Knocklong. It covers about four statute acres, and
is now called Doonglara, or more often Lis-Doon-
glara.
Brugh-righ. — Bruree in the county Limerick,
situated beside the river Maigue, was from remote
times one of the seats of the kings of South
Munster, as its Irish name Brugh-rir/h indicates,
signifying the ' House of Kings.' The illustrious
King Ailill Olom, ancestor of many of the chief
Munster families, lived there in the second century :
and it continued to be occupied by the Munster kings
till long after the Anglo-Norman Invasion. The
Anglo-Norman chiefs also adopted it as a place of
residence, as they did many others of the old Irish
kingly seats : and the ruins of two of their fine
castles remain. There are still to be seen, along
the river, several of the old circular forts, the
most interesting of which is the one now universally
known in the neighbourhood by the name of Liss-
oleem, inasmuch as it preserves the very name of
CHAP. XVI.] THE HOUSE. 341
King Ailill Olom, whose timber house was situated
within its enclosure. It is situated on the western
bank of the river, a mile below the village, in the
townland of Lower Lotteragh, in the angle formed
by the Maigue and a little stream joining it from
the west. It is a circular fort with three ramparts,
having the reputation — like most other raths — of
being haunted by fairies : and, as it is very lonely
and much overgrown with bushes, it is as fit a
home for fairies as could well be imagined.
This king's name, Ailill Olom, signifies 'Ailill
Bare-Ear,' so called because one of his ears was
cut off in a struggle. Olom is accented on the
second syllable, and is compounded of o, ' an ear,'
and lorn, ' bare ' : in the name " Ailill Olom " it
is in the nominative case: "Ailill Bare-Ear" (not
"of the Bare-Ear''): like the English names
William Longsword, Richard Strongbow. But
when placed after " Lis," it takes — as it should take
— the genitive form, " Oluim " : and " Lis-Olium,"
which is exactly represented in sound by " Lissoleem,"
signifies ' Olom's Us or residence.' Many examples
of the preservation of very old personal and other
names in our existing topographical nomenclature
are given in my " Irish Names of Places " ; and this
case of Lissoleem — which has not been noticed before
— is fully as interesting as any of them.
Temair-Luachra.— In the time of the Red Branch
Knights and of the Munster Degads (p. 42, above),
and from immemorial ages previously, the chief royal
residence of South Munster was Teamair- or Tara-
Luachra, the fort of which in all probability still
exists, though it has not been identified. Mr. W.
342 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
M. Hennessy, in his Introduction to the Mesca Ulad,
lias brought together the several notices bearing on
its position. It was well known in the time of
Elizabeth ; and anyone acquainted with the country,
who would take the trouble to walk over the exact
locality indicated, and make inquiry among the old
people, would be able, as I believe, to light on and
identify the very fort.
Knockgraffon. — Another noted Munster palace
was Cnoc-Eafonn, now called Knockgraftbn, three
miles north of Caher in Tipperary, where the great
mound, 60 or 70 feet high, still remains, with the
ruins of an English castle beside it. Here resided,
in the third century, Fiacha Muillethan [Feeha-
Mullehan], king of Munster, who, when the great
King Cormac mac Art invaded Munster in an attempt
to levy tribute, defeated him at Knocklong and
routed his army : an event which forms the subject
of the historical tale called " The Siege of Knock-
long."
The fort is now as noted for fairies as it was in
times of old for royalty : and one of the best- known
modern fairy stories in connexion with it will be
found in Crofton Croker's " Fairy Legends of
Ireland " namely, " The Legend of Knockgrafton."
This Irish legend has been turned into English
verse, but with much interpolation, by Thomas
Parnell in his ballad, " A Fairy Tale."
Composed from the Book >f Kells.
CHAPTER XVII.
FOOD, FUEL, AND LIGHT '. PUBLIC HOSTELS.
Section 1. Meals in General.
:nek, the principal meal of the day, was
called in Irish, prainn, probably a
loan-word from the Latin prandium.
Hence the refectory of a monastery was
called praintech, literally 'dinner-house.'
Dinner was taken late in the evening
both among the laity and in monasteries.
It was usual to have a light meal between breakfast
and dinner, corresponding with the modern luncheon.
It was called etrud, meaning 'middle-meal.' There
was a custom among the laity, as well as in the
monastic communities, to have better food on
Sundays and church festivals than on other days.
Among the higher classes great care was taken to
seat family and guests at table in the order of rank :
any departure from the established usage was sure to
be resented by the person who was put lower than
he should be ; and sometimes resulted in serious
quarrels or wars.
The king was always attended at banquets by his
844 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
subordinate kings, and by other lords and chiefs.
Those on the immediate right and left of the king
had to sit at a respectful distance. At the feasts of
Tara, Tailltenn, and Ushnagh, it was the privilege
of the king of Oriell to sit next the king of Ireland, but
he sat at such a distance that his sword just reached
the high king's hand : and to him also belonged
the honour of presenting every third drinking-horn
brought to the king. According to Kineth O'Hartigan,
while King Cormac mac Art sat at dinner, fifty
military guards remained standing beside him.
The banquet-hall of Tara was a long building,
with tables arranged along both side-walls. Imme-
diately over the tables were a number of hooks in
the wall at regular intervals to hang the shields on.
One side of the hall was more dignified than the
other ; and the tables here were for the lords of
territories : those at the other side were for the
military captains. Just before the beginning of the
feast all persons left the hall except three : — A
Shanachie or historian : a marshal to regulate the
order : and a trumpeter whose duty it was to sound
his trumpet just three times. The king and his sub-
ordinate kings having first taken their places at the
head of the table, the" professional ollaves sat down
next them. Then the trumpeter blew the first blast,
at which the shield-bearers of the lords of territories
(for every chief and king had his shield-bearer or
squire) came round the door and gave their masters'
shields to the marshal, who, under the direction of
the Shanachie, hung them on the hooks according
to ranks, from the highest to the lowest : and at the
second blast the shields of the military commanders
CHAP. XVII.] FOOD, FUEL, AND LIGHT : HOSTELS. 315
were disposed of in like manner. At the third blast
the guests all walked in leisurely, each taking his
seat under his own shield (which was marked with
his special cognisance: see p. 60, supra). In this
manner all unseemly disputes or jostling for places
were avoided. No man sat opposite another, as only
one side of each row of tables was occupied, namely,
the side next the wall. Moreover, in order to avoid
crowding, the shields were hung at such a distance,
that when the guests were seated " no man of them
would touch another." Similar arrangements wrere
adopted at the banquets of all other royal residences.
This rigid adherence to order of priority at table
continued in Ireland and Scotland down to a recent
period, as Scott often mentions in his novels ; and
it continues still in a modified and less strict form
everywhere.
At all state banquets particular joints were re-
served for certain chiefs, officials, and professional
men, according to rank. Here is the statement of
the commentator on the Senchus Mor: — "A thigh
\_laartj~] for a king and a poet : a chine [crotchet] for
a literary sage : a leg [colptha] for a young lord :
heads for charioteers: a haunch [les] for queens."
A similar custom existed among the ancient Gauls
and also among the Greeks. A remnant of this old
custom lingered on in Scotland and Ireland down to
a period within our own memory.
In the time of the Red Branch Knights, it was the
custom to assign the choicest joint or animal of the
whole banquet to the hero who was acknowledged by
general consent to have performed the bravest and
greatest exploit. This piece was called curath-mir,
346 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE, [PART IIT.
i.e. ' the hero's morsel or share ' (mir). There were
often keen contentions among the Red Branch heroes,
and sometimes fights with bloodshed, for this coveted
"joint or piece : and some of the best stories of the
Tain hinge on contests of this kind. This usage,
which prevailed among the continental Celts in
general, and which also existed among the Greeks,
continued in Ireland to comparatively late times.
Tables were, as we have seen, used at the great
feasts. But at ordinary meals, high tables, such as
we have now, do not seem to have been in general
use. There were small low tables, such as that in
Fig. 105.
Small Table : 28 inches long, 16 inches broad, and 5 inches high : found in a
bog, 5 feet under the surface. (From Wilde's Catalogue.)
the illustration, each used no doubt for two or more
persons, who sat or reclined on low couches or seats
of some kind at meals. Often there was a little table
laid beside each person, on which his food was placed
— the meat on a platter. According to Giraldus, his
countrymen, the Welsh, had no tables at all at their
meals : and very probably this was the case in the
general run of the houses of the Irish peasantry.
Forks are a late invention : of old the fingers were
used at eating. In Ireland, as in England and other
countries in those times, each person held his knife
in the right hand, and used the fingers of the left
instead of a fork. Sometimes — as at banquets, and
CHAP. XVII.] FOOD, FUEL, AND LIGHT '. HOSTELS. 347
among very high-class people — the carvers cut off
great pieces from the joint, which they brought
round and put on the platters. But more commonly
each person went to the joint, and using his left-hand
fingers to catch hold, cut off a piece for himself and
brought it to his own platter. Even so late as the
sixteenth century this was the custom in England,
according to Roberts, who says that dinner was
served without knives or forks, but each had his own
clasp-knife, and going to the dish, cut off a piece
for himself : and he gives this illustrative verse by
Alexander Barclay (sixteenth century) : —
" If the dish be pleasant, either flesche or fische,
Ten hands at once swarm in the dishe."
When dinner was over — says Roberts, speaking of
the English — they removed the grease from their
knives by plunging the blade several times into the
clay floor. The Greeks and Romans had no forks at
meals : they used the fingers only, and were supplied
with water to wash their hands after eating.
As early as the eighth or ninth century the Irish
of the higher classes used napkins at table, for which
they had a native word, lambrat, i.e. 'hand-napkin'
{lam, l hand': brat, ' a cloth'). This custom is fre-
quently mentioned in the Irish mss. of those ages,
quoted by Zeuss. I suppose the chief use they made
of the napkin was to wipe the left-hand fingers ;
which was badly needed. They sometimes used dried
hides as tablecloths. It was the custom, both in
monastic communities and in secular life, to take off
the shoes or sandals when sitting down to dinner ;
which was generally done by an attendant. The
348 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
Romans we know had the same custom ; and we may
infer that the Irish, like them, reclined during meals
on couches on which the feet also rested.
2. Drink.
In old times people were quite as fond of intoxicat-
ing drinks at dinners and banquets as they are now :
and we are constantly told in the tales that when the
cups went round, the company became exhilarated
and right merry. They sometimes drank more than
was good for them too : yet drunkenness was looked
upon as reprehensible. At their feasts they often
accompanied their carousing with music and singing.
Maildune and his men, visiting a certain island, saw
the people feasting and drinking, and " heard their
ale-music."
Besides plain water and milk, the chief drinks
were ale, mead or metheglin, and wine. Giraldus
Cambrensis remarks that Ireland never had vineyards :
but that there was plenty of wine supplied by foreign
commerce ; and he mentions Poitou in France
especially as supplying, vast quantities in exchange
for hides. This account is corroborated by the native
records, from which we learn that wine was imported
in very early ages, and it is frequently mentioned as
an accompaniment at banquets.
Of all the intoxicating drinks ale was the most
general, not only in Ireland, but among all the peoples
of northern Europe : and the more intoxicating it was
the more esteemed. Irish ale was well known from
the earliest period, even on the Continent, as we see
from the statement of Dioscorides in the first century :
— " The Britons and the Hiberi or Irish, instead of
CHAP. XVII.] FOOD, FUEL, AND LIGHT \ HOSTELS. 349
wine, use a liquor called courmi or curmi, made of
barley." This author caught up correctly the ancient
Fig. 106.
Brop.ze Strainer, found in a crannoge. Cup-shaped, 4'< inches wide
and \l/i inch deep. Observe the holes form curve-patterns. (From
the Journ. Roy. Soc. Antiqq. Irel.)
Irish name for ale, which was cuirm or coirm. The
present word for ale is linn or leann : and although
this, too, was one of the words for ale in old times, it
350 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
was often used to denote drink in general. The
manufacture of ale was understood everywhere ; and
the whole process is given in detail in the Senchus
Mor, and in the commentaries and glosses on it. The
grain chiefly used was barley ; and what grew on rich
land was most valued for the purpose : but it was
also often made from rye, as well as from wheat and
oats. The corn, of whatever kind, was first converted
into malt : Irish brae or braich ; by steeping in water
and afterwards drying. The dried malt kept for any
length of time, and was often given in payment of
rent or tribute.
When the ale was to be prepared, the ground malt
was made into mash with water, which was fermented,
boiled, strained, &c, till the process was finished.
Ale was often made in private houses for family use :
for everywhere among the people there were amateur
experts who understood the process. But there were
houses also set apart for this purpose, where a pro-
fessional brewer carried on the business. When people
felt indisposed or out of sorts, it was usual to give them
a draught of ale to refresh or revive them, as we now
give a cup of tea or a glass of wine.
Mead or metheglin (Irish mid, pron. mee) was
made chiefly from honey : it was a drink in much
request, and was considered a delicacy, so that a
visitor on arrival was often treated to a cup of
mead. It was slightly intoxicating. Mead con-
tinued to be made in many parts of Ireland till very
recently.
Whiskey is a comparatively modern innovation.
The first notice of it in the Irish annals appears to be
at a.d. 1405, where there is the ominous record that
CHAP. XVII.] FOOD, FUEL, AND LIGHT t HOSTELS. 351
Kichard Mac Rannal, chief of Muinter Eolais, died
from an overdose of uisge beatha [iske-baha] or
whiskey.
3. Cooking.
In great houses there were professional cooks, who,
while engaged in their work, wore a linen apron
round them from the hips down, and a flat linen cap
on the head ; but among ordinary families the
women did the cooking.
Meat and fish were cooked by roasting, boiling, or
broiling. A spit (bir)— made of iron — was an article
in general use, and was regarded as an important
household implement. But the spits commonly used
in roasting, as well as the skewers for trussing up
the joint, were pointed hazel-rods, peeled and made
smooth and white. Meat, and even fish, while
roasting, were often basted with honey or with a
mixture of honey and salt. Meat and fish were
often broiled on a gridiron, or something in the
nature of a gridiron.
When bodies of men marched through the country,
either during war or on hunting excursions, they
cooked their meat in a large way. Keating and other
writers give the following description of how the Fena
of Erin cooked — a plan which is often referred to in
the ancient tales, and which was no doubt generally
followed, not only by the Fena but by all large
parties camping out. The attendants roasted one
part on hazel spits before immense fires of wood, and
baked the rest on hot stones in a pit dug in the earth.
The stones were heated in the fires. At the bottom
of the pit the men placed a layer of these hot stones :
352
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
then a layer of meat-joints wrapped in sedge or in
hay or straw ropes to keep them from being burned :
next another layer of hot stones : down on that
more meat : and so on till the whole was disposed
of, when it was covered up ; and in this manner
it was effectively cooked. The remains of many of
these cooking-pits are still to be seen in various parts
of the country, and are easily recognised by the
charred wood and blackened stones ; and sometimes
the very pits are to be seen. To this day they are
called by an Irish name signifying "the cooking
places of the Fena."
Fig. 107.
Ancient Bronze Caldron : 12 inches deep : now In National Museum :
formed of separate pieces, beautifully riveted, the head of each rivet
forming a conical stud or button, like the rivets of the gold gorgets and
of some of the bronze trumpets. (From Wilde's Catalogue.)
In the house of every chief and of every brewy
there was at least one bronze caldron for boiling
meat. Its usual name was coire or caire [2 syll.] :
but it was sometimes called aighean, or more
correctly, adhari [ey-an], which is now its usual
CHAP. XVII.] FOOD, FUEL, AND LIGHT '. HOSTELS.
name in Scotland. It was highly valued as a most
important article in the household ; and it was looked
upon as the special property of the chief or head
of the house — much in the same way as his sword
and shield. Everywhere we meet with passages
reminding us of the great value set on these caldrons.
One of them was regarded as a fit present for a king.
The caldron of a chief or of a brewy was supposed
to be kept in continual
use, so that food might
be always ready for
guests whenever they
happened to arrive.
Many bronze caldrons
have been found from
time to time, and are
now preserved in the
National Museum,
Dublin — several of
beautiful workmanship,
like those in figs. 107,
108. Caldrons appear to
have been always made
of brass or bronze— most often the latter. Those
hitherto found are all of that material. Caldrons
were manufactured at home : but some at least, and
those among the most valuable, were imported.
Accompanying every caldron was an ael or flesh-
fork, for lifting out pieces of meat. On one occa-
sion, soon before the Battle of Dunbolg, a.d. 598,
St. Maidoc of Ferns brought to BrandufT, king of
Leinster, a present of a three -pronged fleshfork
(del-trebend), a caldron, a shield, and a sword : an
2 a
Fig. io8.
Ancient Irish bronze caldron, i2}i inches
deep, formed of plates beautifully riveted
together. Shows marks and signs of long
us» over a fire. (From Wilde's Catalogue.)
354 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
odd combination, quite characteristic of the times.
But in early ages kitchen utensils were everywhere
regarded as important. The inventory of the jewels
of the English King Edward III. gives a list of this
king's frying-pans, gridirons, spits, &c. There is a
curious provision in the Brehon Law that if any
accident occurred to a bystander by the lifting of the
joint out of the boiling caldron, the attendant was
liable for damages unless he gave the warning :
" Take care : here goes the ael into the caldron !"
4. Flesh-meat and its accompaniments.
The flesh of wild and domestic animals, boiled or
roast or broiled, much as at the present day, formed
one of the staple food-materials in old times in Ireland
as in other countries.
Pork (muicc-fheoil, i.e. 'pig-flesh,' pron. muchole)
was a favourite among all classes, as it was among
the Greeks and Romans. Pork was also made into
bacon as at present by being salted and hung up on
the wall over the fire. Old bacon was considered
good for chest disease.
Beef, or, as it was called in Irish, mairt-fheoil (i.e.
1 ox-flesh ' : pron. morthole), was much in use. The
animal seems to have been generally killed with a
spear. The flesh of fattened calves, either boiled or
roast, was considered a dainty food, Mutton — in
Irish caer-jhedil or muilt-fheoil ('sheep-flesh,' 'wether-
flesh ' : pron. kairole and multhole) — was perhaps in
more request than beef.
Venison was in great favour : everywhere in the
tales we read of hunters chasing deer and feasting on
CHAP. XVII.] FOOD, FUEL, AND LIGHT '. HOSTELS. 355
the flesh. It was sometimes called fiadh-fheoil,
1 deer-flesh ' [pron. fee-ole] : and also milradh [milra].
Goats were quite as common in old times as now,
and their flesh was as much used, as well as their
milk.
Some of the animals mentioned in the records as
supplying food are no longer used for this purpose :
such, for instance, as badgers : but badgers were
eaten in Ireland until very lately. Seals were valued
chiefly for their skins, and partly also for their flesh
as food, but they are now seldom eaten. Corned
meat was everywhere in use. A number of whole
pigs salted commonly formed part of the tribute paid
to a superior king or chief.
Besides the main joints boiled or roast, we find
mention of various preparations of the flesh of
animals, mixed up with many ingredients. A
pottage or hash formed of meat chopped up small,
mixed with vegetables, was called craibechan [craiv'a-
han]. We find it stated in an Irish document that
Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a craibechan.
In the " Vision of Mac Conglinne " is mentioned
as a dainty food " sprouty craibechan with purple-
berries" : "sprouty," i.e. mixed with vegetable
sprouts. The " purple-berries " were probably the
quicken-berries or rowan-berries added to give a
flavour. There are several other terms used to desig-
nate meat-preparations of this kind, each of which,
no doubt, pointed to some special mode of prepara-
tion : but the distinction — if it ever existed — is now
lost. Simple broth or meat-juice without any mix-
ture of minced-meat was a favourite with the Irish,
and also among the Scottish Highlanders.
2a2
356 • SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART, lit.
Sausages or puddings were a favourite dish, made
much the same as at the present day, by filling the
intestines of a pig, cow, or sheep with minced-meat
and blood. They were known by the terms indrech-
tan and maroc. Puddings and sausages got a boil
after making, so as to half cook them, and were then
put aside till wanted : when about to be brought to
table they were fried and served hot as at the present
day.
In the " Vision of Mac Conglinne" is mentioned,.
as good food, the dressan of an old wether. The
word is a diminutive of dress or driss, which is
familiarly applied to things of a branchy nature,
such as a bramble or the smaller intestines : and as
applied to an article of food is still in use in Cork in
the form of (Irishmen, which has the Irish diminutive
in instead of the an of Mac Conglinne. The name
drisheen is now used in Cork as an English word, to
denote a sort of pudding made of the narrow intes-
tines of a sheep, filled with blood that has been
cleared of the red colouring matter, and mixed with
meal and some other ingredients. So far as I know,
this viand and its name are peculiar to Cork, where
drisheen is considered suitable for persons of weak or
delicate digestion.
Lard (Irish blonotj) was much used as an annlann
or condiment, and entered into cooking in various
forms. We also find mention of olar, ' rich gravy' ;
and of inmar, ■ dripping,' both used as a condiment
or relish.
Most of the birds used for food at the present day
were eaten in old times : and frequent allusions to
birds as food are found in ancient Irish writings.
CHAP. XVII.] FOOD, FUEL, AND LIGHT I HOSTELS. 357
Giraldus Cambrensis says that the Irish loathed the
flesh of the heron ; but that Henry II. induced those
kings and chiefs he entertained in Dublin at Christ-
mas, 1171, to taste it. They do not seem to have
much relished it : for ever since that time the Irish
people have let the herons alone. Eggs were exten-
sively used : goose-eggs, if we are to judge from
their frequent mention, were a favourite. In a
legendary account of bishop Ere of Slane, we are told
that he kept a flock of geese to lay eggs for him.
At the banquet of Dun-nan-gedh, some of these eggs
were on the table, cold ; and Congal, going in to view
the feast, ate a part of one. And when the com-
pany sat down, a goose-egg [cold] on a silver dish
was placed before each chief. From all this we may
infer that eggs were generally boiled hard and eaten
cold.
All the fish used for food at the present day were
eaten in Ireland in old times, so that there is no need
to go into details. Only it may be remarked that
salmon was then the favourite ; and we meet with
constant reference to it as superior to all other fish.
The salmon of the " salmon-full Boyne," of Lough
Neagh, and of the Barrow, were much prized. The
subject of fishing will be treated of in chapter xxv.,
sect. 6.
Any viand eaten with the principal part of the
meal as an accompaniment or condiment, or kitchen,
as it is called in Ireland and Scotland — anything
taken as a relish with more solid food — was desig-
nated annlann, equivalent to the Latin obsoniwn.
The Brehon Laws specify the annlanns with much
particularity : — butter, salt bacon, lard, salt, meat of
358 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
any kind (when used in small quantities and not the
principal part of the meal), honey, kale, onions, and
other vegetables, &c.
Salt— Irish sal, salami — was used for domestic
purposes much the same as at the present day.
It was not so easily made or procured then as now,
so that the supply was limited, and people kept it
carefully, avoiding waste. In rich people's houses it
was kept in small sacks. The Senchus Mor mentions
salt as one of the important articles in the house of a
brewy, on which the glossator remarks that it is " an
article of necessity at all times, a thing which every-
one desires.*' It was kept in lumps or in coarse grains ;
and at dinner each person was served with as much
as he needed. In the sixteenth century in England — •
as we are told by Roberts — each guest at dinner was
given a little lump of salt, which he ground into
powder with the bottom of his glass or drinking -
goblet : and something of the same plan may have
been followed in Ireland. English salt was largely
imported, and was considered the best.
In 1300, salt was exported from Ireland, as we
know from the fact that it was one of the commodities
sent to Scotland to supply the army of Edward I.
The salt must have been manufactured either from
sea-water, or from rock-salt taken from the earth, or
more likely from both. For we know that there are
plenty of salt deposits in Ulster : but of salt mines,
or of the mode of preparing the salt, the ancient
literature — so far as I know — contains no details.
CHAP. XVII.] FOOD, FUEL, AND LIGHT ', HOSTELS. 359
5. Milk and its products.
There are several ancient Irish words for milk,
three of which are ass, loim, and melg : this last
evidently cognate with Latin mulgeo and with English
milk. The most general word in modern use is
bainne [bon-ya], which is also an ancient word. The
milk chiefly used in ancient Ireland was that of cows ;
but goats' and sheep's milk was also in much request.
Milk was used in a variety of ways, as at the present
day. For drinking, the choice condition was as new
milk (lemnacht or lemlacht) : and cream was some-
times added as a luxury. But skimmed milk, i.e.
milk slightly sour, and commonly thick, from
which the cream had been skimmed off, was con-
sidered a good drink. This was
called draumce and also hldthach
[draumke, blawhagh], which last
word is the name used at the
present day. Thick milk was im-
proved by mixing new milk with
it, as I have often seen done in our
own day.
The people made butter (Irish
im or imm) in* the usual way, in a
small churn. Butter of any kind
was considered a superior sort
of condiment. Salt butter, called
gruiten, was regarded as very inferior to fresh
butter. A lump of butter shaped according to fancy
was called a mescan, which word is still in very
general use even among the English-speaking people,
who pronounce it miscaun or viiscan.
Fig. 109.
Ancient butter-print:
SYi inches in diameter:
in the National Museum.
(From Wilde's Catal.)
300
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
In later times it was customary to sink butter deep
down in bogs, closed up in casks or wrapped up in
cloths, to give it a flavour, or, as some think, as a
mode of preserving it. Among the food of the Irish,
Dineley (a.d. 1675) mentions butter " mixed with
store of a kind of garlick, and buried for some time
in a bog to make a provision
of an high taste for Lent." Sir
William Petty also mentions butter
made rancid by keeping in bogs ;
and other authorities to the same
effect might be quoted. Whether
this custom existed in ancient
times I am unable to say ; but at
any rate its prevalence, even at
this late period, is a sufficient
explanation of the fact that butter
is now very often found in vessels
of various shapes and sizes, deeply
embedded in bogs; sometimes in
firkins not very different from those
now in use. Several specimens of
this "bog butter," as it is com-
monly called, are to be seen in the
National Museum.
Curds — called in Irish gruth [gruh] — formed one
important article of diet. Milk was converted into
curds and whey by calves' rennet : and the curd
was made into cheese of various sorts, which was
greatly valued as an article of food. Cheese was
denoted by several different words, of which the
most common were caise [cawsha], and maethail
[maihil] : but this last word was often applied to
Fig. iio.
Firkin of Bog-butter:
26 inches high : made
from a single piece of
sallow. In the National
Museum. (From Wilde's
Catalogue.)
CHAP. XVII.] FOOD, FUEL, AND LIGHT '. HOSTELS. 361
dried curd. Cheese was made from curd as now, by
pressing in a mould, from which it was turned out
in firm shapes. Curds were much used in an inter-
mediate stage, not quite turned into cheese, but
sufficiently pressed to squeeze out all the whey, so
as to form a mass moderately firm and capable of
keeping for a long time. This soft material, half
curd, half cheese, was often called milsen. Cheese
pressed tightly in a mould, and turned out very
hard, was called tanag. Masses of cheese have been
found in bogs, of which some specimens may be
seen in the National Museum.
Whey — Irish medg [maig] — was made use of;
but it was considered a poor drink. New milk from
a cow that had just calved, now called beestings,
was in Old Irish called nits, a word still in use.
This milk was not fit for drinking ; but it was
turned into curds and whey by merely heating, and
in this form it was used as food. But more often
the curd was made into thin pancakes. It was
evidently valued — as it is at the present day — for
old authorities say that one of the blessings brought
on the country by Cormac mac Art's benign reign,
was that the cows after calving had their udders
full of nus or beestings.
6. Com and its preparations.
It will be seen in chapter xix., sect. 2, of this
book, that all the various kinds of grain cultivated
at the present day were in use in ancient Ireland.
Corn was ground and sifted into coarse and fine, i.e.
into meal and flour, which were commonly kept in
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
chests. The staple food of the great mass of the
people was porridge or, as it is now called in Ireland,
stirabout, made of meal (Irish min), generally oatmeal.
It was eaten with honey, butter, or milk, as an annlann
or condiment. The common Irish word for stirabout
was, and still is, leite, gen. leitenn [letthe, letthen] ;
but in the Brehon Laws and elsewhere it is often
called grass. The Senchus Mor annotator, laying
down the regulations for the food of children in
fosterage, mentions three kinds of leite or stirabout :
— of oatmeal, wheatmeal, and barleymeal : that
made from oatmeal being the most general. Wheat -
meal stirabout was considered the best : that of
barleymeal was inferior to the others. For the
rich classes, stirabout was often made on new milk :
if sheep's milk, so much the better, as this was
looked upon as a delicacy : it was eaten with honey,
fres hbutter, or new milk. For the poorer classes
stirabout was made on water or buttermilk, and
eaten with sour milk or salt butter.
All the various kinds of meal and flour were baked
into cakes or loaves of different shapes. The usual
word for a cake was bairgen, now pronounced borreen :
hence borreen-brach', ' speckled cake' (speckled with
currants and raisins), eaten on November eve, now
often written barn-brack. Flour was usually mixed
with water to make dough : but bread made of flour
and milk was also much in use. Honey was often
kneaded up with cakes as a delicacy : and occasionally
the roe of a salmon was similarly used. Wheaten
bread was considered the best, as at present : barley-
bread was poor. Yeast, or barm, or leaven was used
both in baking and in brewing.
CHAP. XVII.] FOOD, FUEL, AND LIGHT '. HOSTELS. 363
The several utensils used in making and baking
bread are set forth in the Senchus M6r ; and baking
and the implements employed therein are always
spoken of as specially pertaining to women. The
woman had a criathar [criher] or sieve for separating
the fine part of the flour from the coarse, which was
done on each particular occasion just before baking.
Having made the flour into dough (Irish taos), she
worked it into cakes on a losat [losset] or kneading-
trough, a shallow wooden trough, sucn as we see
used for making cakes at the present day.
7. Honey.
Before entering on the consideration of honey as
food, it will be proper to make a few observations on
the management of bees by the ancient Irish. From
the earliest times Ireland was noted for its abundance
of honey. Giraldus expresses the curious opinion
that honey would be still more abundant all over
Ireland if the bee-swarms were not checked by the
bitter and poisonous yews with which the woods
abounded.
The management of bees was universally under-
stood ; and every comfortable householder kept hives
in his garden. Wild bees, too, swarmed everywhere
— much more plentifully than at present, on account
of the extent of woodland. Before cane-sugar came
into general use— sixteenth century — the bee industry
was considered so important that a special section of
the Brehon Laws is devoted to it. The Irish name
for a bee is beeh : a swarm is called saithe [saeha].
The hive was known by various names, but the term
364 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
now universally in use is corcog. Hives stocked with
bees were sometimes given as part of a tribute to a
king.
The Brehon Law tract on " Bee- judgments,"
of which the printed Irish text occupies twenty
pages, enters into much detail concerning the rights
of the various parties concerned, to swarms, hives,
nests, and honey : of which a few examples are
given here. If a man found a swarm in the faitlwhe
[faha], or green surrounding and belonging to a
house : one-fourth of the produce to the end of a
year was due to the finder, the remaining three-
fourths to the owner of the house. If he found
them in a tree growing in a faithche or green : one-
half produce for a year to the finder : the rest to
the owner. If they were found in land which was
not a green : one-third to the finder and two-thirds
to the owner of the land. If found in waste land
not belonging to an individual, but the common
property of the tribe, bees and honey belonged to
the finder, except one-ninth to the chief of the
tribe. As the bees owned by an individual gathered
their honey from the surrounding district, the owners
of the four adjacent farms were entitled to a certain
small proportion of the honey : and after the third
year each was entitled to a swarm. If bees belonging
to one man swarmed on the land of another, the
produce was divided in certain proportions between
the two. It is mentioned in "Bee-judgments"
that a sheet was sometimes spread out that a swarm
might alight and rest on it : as is often done now.
At the time of gathering the honey the bees were
smothered.
CHAP. XVII.] FOOD, FUEL, AND LIGHT : HOSTELS. 365
A mixture of milk and honey was sometimes
drunk ; a mixture of lard and honey was usual as
a condiment. Honey was sometimes brought to
table pure, and sometimes in the comb. Often at
meals each person had placed before him on the
table a little dish, sometimes of silver, filled with
honey ; and each morsel whether of meat, fish, or
bread was dipped into it before being ' conve yed to
the mouth. Stirabout was very generally eaten in
the same way with honey as a delicacy. Honey
was used to baste meat while roasting, as well as
salmon while broiling. In one of the old tales we
read that Ailill and Maive, king and queen of
Connaught, had a salmon broiled for the young
chief, Fraech, which was basted with honey that
had been " well made by their daughter, the Princess
Findabair " : from which again we learn that the
highest persons sometimes employed themselves in
preparing honey. It has been already stated that
honey was the chief ingredient in mead ; and it is
probable that it was used in greater quantity in
this way than in any other.
8. Vegetables and Fruit.
Table vegetables of various kinds were cultivated
in an enclosure called liibgort [loo-ort], i.e. ' herb-
garden ' or kitchen-garden: from lub, 'an herb,'
and govt, a fenced-in cultivated plot. The manner
in which the kitchen-garden is mentioned in litera-
ture of all kinds shows that it was a common appanage
to a homestead.
366 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
Cabbage of some kind was an important food-herb
among the early Irish, so that it is often mentioned
in old authorities. Its Irish name was braisech
[brasshagh], borrowed probably from the Latin
brassica. Among the vegetables cultivated in kitchen-
gardens and used at table were leeks and onions.
11 Mac Conglinne's Vision " mentions the leek by
one of its Irish names lus, and the onion by the
name cainnenn. Lus is now the general word for
leek, and was often used in this special sense in old
writings : but lus primarily means an herb in general.
A leek had a more specific n&me, folt-chep (Jolt, * hair ';
"hair-onion": chep or cep, corresponding with Lat.
cepa, ' an onion '). Garlic appears to have been a
pretty common condiment, and the same word
cainnenn was often applied to it. Wild garlic, called
in Irish creamh [crav or craff] was often used as a
pot-herb, but I find no evidence that it was cultivated.
The facts that it is often mentioned in Irish literature,
and that it has given names to many places, show
that it was a well-recognised plant and pretty
generally used.
Tap-rooted plants were designated by the general
term meacon [mackan] , with qualifying terms to
denote the different kinds : but meacon used by itself
means a parsnip or a carrot. Both these vegetables
were cultivated in kitchen-gardens, and are often
mentioned in old writings. Good watercress (biror)
was prized and eaten raw as a salad or annlann, as at
present. It is often spoken of in connexion with
brooklime, which is called fothlacht [fullaght], and
which was also eaten. Poor people sometimes ate a
pottage made of the tender tops of nettles, as I have
CHAP. XVII.] FOOD, FUEL, AND LIGHT '. HOSTELS. 367
seen them do in my own day in time of scarcity : but
they mixed a little oatmeal with it when they could get
it. The sea-plant called in Irish chdlesc, and in Eng-
lish dillesk, dulse, dulsk, or dilse, growing on sea-rocks,
was formerly much used as an article of food, that
is, as an accompaniment. According to the Brehon
Law, seaside arable land was enhanced in value by
having rocks on its sea-border producing this plant,
and there was a penalty for consuming the dillesk
belonging to another without leave. Dillesk is still
used ; and you may see it in Dublin hawked about in
baskets by women: it is dry, and people eat it in
small quantities raw, like salad.
Though there is not much direct mention in old
Irish literature of the management of fruit-trees,
various detached passages show that they were much
valued and carefully cultivated. The apple (abhall,
pron. ooal) appears to have been as much cultivated
and used in old times as at the present. Apples,
when gathered, were hoarded up to preserve them as
long as possible : they were generally eaten uncooked.
The hazel-nut was much used for food. This is
plainly indicated by the high value set on both tree
and fruit, of which we meet with innumerable
instances in tales, poems, and other old records, in
such expressions as " Cruachan of the fair hazels " :
" Derry-na-nath, on which fair-nutted hazels are
constantly found." Abundance of hazel-nuts was a
mark of a prosperous and plenteous season. Among
the blessings a good king brought on the land was
plenty of hazel-nuts :— " O'Berga [the chief] for
whom the hazels stoop" [with the weight of their
fruit] : " Each hazel is rich from [the worthiness of]
368 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
the hero." From such references and quotations it
may be inferred that hazel-nuts were regarded as an
important article of human food.
The sloe-tree or blackthorn was called droigheann
[dree-an], which generally takes a diminutive form
droigheannan [dreenan] : hence dreenan-donn (donn,
'brown') is a common name for the blackthorn,
even among English-speaking people. The sloe is
called dime [awrna]. That sloes were used as food,
or as an annlann or condiment, and that the sloe
bush was cultivated, is evident from the manner in
which both are mentioned in Irish literature. Straw-
berries (sing, sub, pi. suba : pron. soo, sooa) are often
mentioned as dainties.
We are told in the Book of Eights that one of the
prerogatives of the king of Erin was to have the
heath-fruit (fraecJimes) of Slieve Golry in Longford
brought to him. The fraecJimes was no doubt the
whortleberry (called whorts or hurts in Munster), as is
indicated by the fact that the whortleberry is now
called fraechbg and fraecJidn, two diminutives of the
same word/race/?, heath. Most Dublin people have
seen women with baskets of "fraughans," as they call
them, for sale, picked on the neighbouring mountains ;
and they are now made into jam. The passage re-
ferred to shows that fraughans were eaten in old times
even by kings. Beechmast and oakmast were greatly
valued for feeding pigs, which were kept in droves
among the woods. The general name for mast was
mes or mess. On one occasion the badb [bauv] or
war- witch, predicting evils for Ireland, included
among them " woods without masts."
CHAP. XVII.] FOOD, FUEL, AND LIGHT : HOSTELS. 369
9. Fuel and Light.
Fuel. — As the country abounded in forests,
thickets, and brakes, the most common fuel for
domestic use was wood. Firewood or " firebote "
was called connadh [conna]. A bundle of firewood
was called a brossna, a word found in the oldest
authorities and used to this day all over Ireland,
even by the English-speaking people, as meaning a
bundle of withered branches, or of heath, for fuel.
Peat or turf was much used as fuel. The Senchus
Mor speaks of the cutting of turf from a bank (port)
and carting it home when dry ; and mentions a
penalty for stealing it. It is recorded in the Annals
that Ragallach, king of Connaught in the middle of
the seventh century, having exasperated some men
who were cutting turf in a bog, they fell on him and
killed him with their sharp ruams or turf-spades.
The whole bog was the " commons " property of the
fine or group of related families : but a single turf-
bank might belong for the time to an individual.
The word ruam, used above, was a general word for
any spade. At the present day the sharp spade
used in cutting turf is designated by the special name
of sleaghan [pron. slaan, the aa long like the a in starl.
This word is a diminutive of sleagh [s7«.], a ' spear.'
Metal-workers used wood charcoal ; for neither
plain wood nor peat afforded sufficient heat to melt
or weld. Charcoal made from birch afforded the
highest degree of heat then available ; and was used
for fusing the metals known at that time. Allusions
to the use of charcoal— which in Irish is designated
2b
370 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
fined or eital— are met with in all sorts of Irish
literature. The remains of some of the old pits in
which charcoal was made are still recognisable. I
know one in which the soil is mixed up and quite
black with quantities of charcoal -fragments and dust.
We do not know if pit- coal was used in Ireland in
very early times.
Flint and steel with tinder were used for striking
and kindling fire. The whole kindling-gear— flint,
steel, and tinder— was carried in the girdle-pocket,
so as to be ready to hand ; and accordingly, fire
struck in this way was called teine-creasa [tinne-
crassa], ' fire of the crios, or girdle.'
Tinder was, and is, commonly called sponc [spunk],
which is obviously the same as the Latin spongia,
English sponge. Spunk or tinder was sometimes
made from the dried leaves of the coltsfoot, so that
this plant is now always called sponc : but in recent
times it was more usually made of coarse brown
paper steeped in a solution of nitre and dried.
Light. — In the better class of houses dipped
candles were commonly used. The usual Irish word
for a candle is cainnel, which seems borrowed from
the Latin candela : but there is also an old native
word for it — innlis. There are numerous references
to candles in ancient Irish authorities. The Senchus
M6r mentions candles of " eight fists " (about forty
inches) in length, made by [repeated] dipping of
peeled rushes in melted tallow or meat grease : from
which we learn that the wicks of candles were some-
times made of peeled rushes : but other kinds of
wicks were used.
As bees were so abundant, beeswax (Irish 6Sirt
CHAP. XVII.] FOOD, FUEL, AND LIGHT \ HOSTELS. 371
pron. cair), as might be expected, was turned to
account. Beeswax candles were in use at some
early period in the houses of the rich ; and beeswax,
" found in square masses, and also in the form of
candles, has been discovered under circumstances
which leave no doubt as to the great antiquity of
such articles." Several specimens of this ancient
wax are in the National Museum, Dublin.
Although, in very early times, candles were some-
times held in the hands of slaves, they were more
commonly placed on candlesticks. The ancient
Irish word for a candlestick is caindelbra, modern
Irish coinnleuir [conlore], both of which are modified
forms of the Latin candelabra. The Senchus Mor
notices a caindelbra as a usual article in a house.
The ancient Latin Hymn of Secundinus makes
mention of a light placed on a candelabrum : and in
the description of the Banqueting-House of Tara in
the Book of Leinster it is stated that there were
seven caindelbra in it.
It was usual to keep a richainnell [reehannel], or
' king-candle' (ri, ' a king'), or royal candle, of enor-
mous size, with a great bushy wick, burning at night
in presence of a king : in the palace it was placed
high over his head ; during war it blazed outside his
tent-door ; and on night-marches it was borne before
him. This custom is mentioned very often in the
records. The Four Masters, in the passage already-
quoted, p. 27, supra, describe the " king-candle "
kept burning at night before Shane O'Neill's tent
(a.d. 1557) as " a huge torch thicker than a man's
body": a passage which shows moreover that this
custom continued till the sixteenth century.
2b2
372 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
The poorer classes commonly used a rush-light,
i.e. a single rush peeled (leaving one little film of
rind the whole length to keep it together) and soaked
in grease, but not formed into a candle by repeated
dippings. It gave a poor light and burned down
very quickly ; and it was known by two names,
adann and itharna [ey-an : ih'arna].
Oil lamps of various kinds were used ; and we find
them frequently mentioned in the oldest records
under two names — lespaire [les-pe-re] and lauchamn
or locharnn. Luachamn occurs several times in the
eighth-century Glosses of Zeuss, as the equivalent
of lampas and lucerna, which shows the remote time
in which lamps and lanterns were used in Ireland.
Some were made of bronze : some of clay. A rude
unglazed earthenware lamp, shallow, and with a
snout to support a wick, was found some time ago
among prehistoric remains near Portstewart.
10. Free Public Hostels.
This seems a proper place to give some infor-
mation regarding the provision made for lodging
and entertaining travellers and officials. Hospitality
and generosity were virtues highly esteemed in
ancient Ireland ; in the old Christian writings indeed
they are everywhere praised and inculcated as
religious duties ; and in the secular literature they
are equally prominent. The higher the rank of the
person the more was expected from him, and a king
should be lavish without limit.
If by any accident a person found himself unable
to discharge the due rites of hospitality, it was
CHAP. XVII.] FOOD, FUEL, AND LIGHT '. HOSTELS. 873
supposed that his face became suffused with a mice
[rucke] or blush — a blush of honourable shame.
The brewy, or head of a hostel, took care to have
11 the snout of a rooting hog " — meaning he had
plenty of pork — " to prevent his face-blush." If
anyone through the fault of another ran short of
provisions when visitors came, so that he had reason
to feel ashamed of his scanty table, the defaulter
had to pay him as compensation what was called a
"blush-fine." As illustrating what was expected of
the higher ranks, the Brehon Law lays down that
"the chieftain grades are bound to entertain [a
guest] without asking any questions " — i.e. questions
as to his name, or business, or where he was bound
for, and the like. Once the guest had partaken of
food in a house, his host was bound to abstain from
offering him any violence or disrespect under any
circumstances. Bede's testimony as to the hospitality
of the Irish has been already quoted.
This universal admiration for hospitality found its
outward expression in the establishment, all over the
country, of public hostels for the free lodging and
entertainment of all who chose to claim them. At
the head of each was an officer called a brugh'-fer or
brugaid [broo-fer, brewy], a public hospitaller or
hosteller, who was held in high honour. He was
bound to keep an open house for the reception of
certain functionaries — king, bishop, poet, judge, &c.
— who were privileged to claim for themselves and
their attendants free entertainment when on their
circuits : and also for the reception of strangers.
He had a tract of land and other large allowances to
defray the expenses of his house ; and he should
374 S0CIA.L AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
have afc least one hundred of each kind of cattle, one
hundred labourers, and corresponding provision for
feeding and lodging guests.
In order to be at all times ready to receive visitors,
a brewy was bound to have three kinds of meat
cooked and ready to be served up to all who came ;
three kinds of raw meat ready for cooking ; besides
animals ready for killing. In one of the law tracts
a brewy is quaintly described as " a man of three
snouts" : — viz. the snout of a live hog rooting in the
fields to prevent the blushes of his face ; the snout
of a dead hog on the hooks cooking ; and the pointed
snout of a plough : meaning that he had plenty of
live animals and of meat cooked and uncooked, with a
plough and all other tillage appliances. He was also
" a man of three sacks" : — for he had always in his
house a sack of malt for brewing ale ; a sack of salt
for curing cattle- joints ; and a sack of charcoal for
the irons ; this last referring to the continual use
of iron-shod agricultural implements calling for
frequent repair and renewal. We are told also
that his kitchen-fire should be kept perpetually
alight, and that his caldron should never be taken
off the fire, and should always be kept full of joints
boiling for guests. There should be a number of
open roads leading to the house of a brewy, so that
it might be readily accessible : and on each road a
man should be stationed to make sure that no
traveller should pass by without calling to be en-
tertained ; besides which a light was to be kept
burning on the faitJiche [faha] or lawn at night to
guide travellers from a distance. The brewy was a
magistrate, and was empowered to deliver judgment
CHAP. XVII.] FOOD, FUEL, AND LIGHT : HOSTELS. 875
on certain cases that were brought before him to his
house. We have already seen (p. 19) that a court
was held in his house for the election of the chief of
the tribe. Keating says that there were ninety
bntgaids in Connaught, ninety in Ulster, ninety-three
in Leinster, and a hundred and thirty in Minister, all
with open houses ; and though it is not necessary to
accept these numbers as strictly accurate, they in-
dicate at least that the houses of hospitality were
very numerous. The house of a brewy answered all
the purposes of the modern hotel or inn, but with the
important distinction, that guests were lodged and
entertained with bed and board, free of charge.
There was another sort of public victualler called
biatach or biadhtach [beetagh], who was also bound
to entertain travellers, and the chief's soldiers when-
ever they came that way. In order to enable the
biatagh to dispense hospitality, he held a tract of
arable land free of rent, called a ballybetagh, equal
to about 1000 of our present English acres, with a
much larger extent of waste land. The distinction
between a brewy and a betagh is not very clear, and
at any rate there was probably little substantial
difference between them.
The Irish missionaries carried this fine custom to
the Continent in early ages, as they did many others ;
for we are told, on the best authority, that before
the ninth century they established hostels, chiefly
for the use of pilgrims on their way to Eome, some
in Germany, but most in France, as lying in the
direct route to the Eternal City.
Composed from the Book of Kells.
CHAPTER XVIII.
DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT.
Section 1. The Person and the Toilet.
arks of Aristocracy. — An oval face,
broad above and narrow below, golden
hair, fair skin, white, delicate, and
well-formed hands, with slender taper-
ing fingers : these were considered by the ancient
Irish as marking the type of beauty and aristocracy.
Among the higher classes the finger-nails were
kept carefully cut and rounded : and beautiful nails
are often mentioned with commendation. It was
considered shameful for a man of position to have
rough unkempt nails. Crimson-coloured finger-
nails were greatly admired. In the Tain a young
lady is described as having, among other marks
of beauty, "regular, circular, crimson nails"; and
ladies sometimes dyed them this colour. Deirdre,
uttering a lament for the sons of Usna, says: — "I
sleep no more, and I shall not crimson my nails : no
joy shall ever again come upon my mind."
CHAP. XVIII.] DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT. 377
Ladies often dyed the eyebrows black with the juice
of some sort of berry. We have already seen (p. 148)
that the Irish missionary monks sometimes painted
or dyed their eyelids black. An entry in Cormac's
Glossary plainly indicates that the blush of the cheeks
was sometimes heightened by a colouring matter
obtained from a plant named ruam. The ruam was
the alder : but the sprigs and berries of the elder
tree were applied to the same purpose. Among Greek
and Roman ladies the practice was very general of
painting the cheeks, eyebrows, and other parts of
the face.
The Hair. — Both men and women wore the hair
long, and commonly flowing down on the back and
shoulders — a custom noticed by Cambrensis. The
hair was combed daily after a bath. The heroes of
the Fena of Erin, before sitting down to their dinner
after a hard day's hunting, always took a bath and
carefully combed their long hair.
Among the higher classes in very early times great
care was bestowed on the hair ; its regulation con-
stituted quite an art ; and it was dressed up in several
ways. Very often the long hair of men, as well as of
women, was elaborately curled. Conall Cernach's
hair, as described in the story of Da Derga, flowed
down his back, and was done up in " hooks and plaits
and swordlets." The accuracy of this and other
similar descriptions is fully borne out by the most
unquestionable authority of all, namely, the figures
in the early illuminated manuscripts and on the
shrines and high crosses of later ages. In nearly all
the figures of the Book of Kells, for example (seventh
or eighth century), the hair is combed and dressed
378 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
with the utmost care, so beautifully adjusted indeed
that it could have been done only by skilled profes-
sional hairdressers, and must have occupied much
time. Whether in case of men or women, it hangs
down both behind and at the sides, and is commonly
divided the whole way, as well as all over the head,
into slender fillets or locks, which sometimes hang
Fig. it i.
Bronze figures of ecclesiastics on the Shrine of St. Maidoc
about the thirteenth century. (From Miss Stokes's Early
Christian Art.)
down to the eyes in front. In the seventh and eighth
centuries this elaborate arrangement of the hair must
have been universal among the higher classes : for
the artist who drew the figures in the Book of Kells
has represented the hair of nearly all of them dressed
and curled in the manner described. The two figures
given here, both ecclesiastics from the shrine of
CHAP. XVIII.] DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT.
379
St. Maidoc, thirteenth century, show how men had
the hair and beard dressed, which is seen still better
in the figure of the Evangelist at page 387, below.
I do not find mentioned anywhere that the Irish
dyed their hair, as was the custom among the Greeks
and Romans.
For women, very long hair has been in Ireland
always considered a mark of beauty. This admira-
tion has come down to the present ; for you con-
stantly find mentioned in the Irish popular songs of
our own day, a maiden " with golden hair that swept
the dew off the grass" — or some such expression.
Fig. 112.
Fig. 113.
Fig. 114.
Ancient Irish ornamented Combs, of bone, now in the National Museum.
Figure 112 is 10 inches long. (From Wilde's Catalogue.)
Combs. — From what precedes it will be under-
stood that combs were in general use with men as
well as with women : and many specimens — some
380
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE.
[PART III.
made of bone, some of horn — some plain, some orna-
mented — Lave been found in lisses, crannoges,
and such like places. The comb — Irish cir [keer] —
is, as we might expect, often mentioned in ancient
Irish writings.
The Beard. — The men were as particular about
the beard as about the hair. The common Irish
names for the beard were ulcha
and feasor/ [faissoge], of which
the last is still in use. The
fashion of wearing the beard
varied. Sometimes it was con-
sidered becoming to have it
long and forked, and gradually
narrowed to two points below.
Sometimes — as shown in many
ancient figures — it falls down in
a single mass ; while in a few it
is cut rectangularly not unlike
Assyrian beards. Nearly all have
a mustache, in most cases curled
up and pointed at the ends as
we often see now. In some
there is a mustache without a
beard : and a few others have
the whole face bare. In many
the beard is carefully divided into slender twisted
fillets, as described above, for the hair. Kings and
chiefs had barbers in their service to attend to all
this. The beard that grew on the upper lip, when
the lower part of the face was shaved, was called
crombeol (' stoopmouth '), pron. crommail, what we
now designate a mustache. That the ancient Irish
Fig. 115.
Bronze cutting-instrument,
believed to be a Razor : all
one piece, 3% inches long ;
two edges very thin, hard, and
sharp. In National Museum,
where there are others like it.
(From Wilde's Catalogue.)
CHAP. XVIII.] DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT. 381
used a razor (in Irish alt or altan) is proved by the
fact that it is mentioned in our very oldest docu-
ments— such, for instance, as Cormac's Glossary
and the eighth -century Milan Glosses — and in such
a way as shows it to have been a very familiar
article.
The Bath. — Bathing was very usual, at least
among the upper classes, and baths and the use of
baths are constantly mentioned in the old tales and
other writings. The bath was a large tub or vat
usually called dabach [dauvagh]. In the better class
of lay houses a bath was considered a necessary
article. There was a bath for the use of visitors in
the guest-house of every monastery ; and we are told
in the law books that every brewy had in his house
a bathing-vessel. Kings and chiefs were in the habit
of bathing and anointing themselves with oil and
precious sweet-scented herbs. So Ulysses bathes and
anoints himself with olive oil after being shipwrecked
on the coast of Phasacea. As the people had a full
bath some time down late in the day, they did not
bathe in the morning, but merely washed their hands ;
for which purpose they generally went out imme-
diately after rising and dressing, to some well or
stream near the house. This practice is constantly
referred to. In both washing and bathing they used
soap (deic, pron. slake).
Small Toilet Articles.— Mirrors of polished metal
must have been common from very early times, for
they are often mentioned ; generally by one or the
other of the two names, scathdn [skahan] and scadarc
[sky-ark]. The great antiquity of the article is shown
by its mention in the Zeuss Glosses, where the old form
382
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
scaterc is derived from scdth-derc, ' shadow-seeing,' or
a ' shadow see-er.' From
scdth [skaw], • a shadow,'
is also derived the other
name scathdn, which is
merely a diminutive form.
Small articles of the toilet,
and especially combs,
were kept by women in
a little bag which they
carried about with
them, called a ciorbholg
[keerwolg], i.e. ' comb-bag '
Gold box: z% inches across:
found in a grave. Probably be-
longing to a lady's toilet. (From
AViMe's Catalo-ue.)
[c'wr, ' a comb,' and holy, ' a bag').
2. Dress.
Materials.-— Woollen and linen clothes formed the
dress of the great mass of the people. Both were
produced at home ; and elsewhere in this book the
mode of manufacturing them will be described. Silk
and satin, which were of course imported, were much
worn among the higher classes, and we find both
constantly noticed in our literature. The flags and
banners used with armies were usually made of silk
or satin. The ordinary word for silk was sida [sheeda] ;
and for satin, srol [srole]. The furs of animals, such
as seals, otters, badgers, foxes, &c, were much used
for capes and jackets, and for the edgings of various
garments, so that skins of all the various kinds were
valuable. They formed, too, an important item of
everyday traffic, and they were also exported. In
1861, a cape was found in a bog at Derrykeighan in
Antrim, six feet beneath the surface, made altogether
CHAP. XVIII.] DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT. 888
of otter-skins. u The workmanship of the sewing "
— says Mr. Robert Mac Adam, a distinguished Belfast
antiquary, who gives an account of it — " is wonder-
fully beautiful and regular : and the several parts are
joined so as not to disturb the fur, so that from the
outside it looks as if formed of one piece."
In Scotland the tartan is much used — a sort of
cloth, generally of wool, sometimes silk — plaided or
cross-barred in various colours ; of which both the
material and the name originated in Ireland. The
original Gaelic name is tuartan, as we find it used
several times, both in the Senchus Mor, and in the
glosses on it, where tuartan is defined to be a sort of
material " containing cloth of every colour."
Colours. — The ancient Irish loved bright colours.
In this respect they resembled many other nations of
antiquity — as well indeed as of the present day ; and
they illustrated Buskin's saying (speaking of poppies) :
— " Whenever men are noble they love bright colour,
. . . and bright colour is given to them in sky, sea,
flowers, and living creatures." The Irish love of
colour expressed itself in all parts of their raiment :
and in chapter xxii., sect. 3, below, it will be shown
that they well understood the art of dyeing.
Everywhere in our ancient literature we find dress -
colours mentioned. In the Ulster army, as described
in the Tain, was one company with various-coloured
mantles : — " some with red cloaks ; others with light
blue cloaks ; others with deep blue cloaks ; others
with green, or blay, or white, or yellow cloaks, bright
and fluttering about them : and there is a young red-
freckled lad, with a crimson cloak in their midst."
Any number of such quotations might be given,
384 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
The several articles of dress on one person were usually
coloured differently. Even the single outer cloak was
often striped, spotted, or chequered in various colours.
King Domnall, in the seventh century, on one occasion
sent a many-coloured tunic to his foster-son Prince
Congal : like Joseph's coat of many colours.
We are told in our legendary history that exact
regulations for the wearing of colours by the different
ranks of people were made by King Tigernmas [Teern-
mas] and by his successor, many centuries before the
Christian era : — a slave was to be dressed in clothes
of one colour ; a peasant or farmer in two ; and so on
up to a king and queen and an ollave of any sort : all
of whom were privileged to wear six.
At the present day green is universally regarded as
the national colour : but this is a very modern inno-
vation, and as a matter of fact the ancient Irish had
no national colour.
Classification of Upper Garments.— The upper
garments worn by men were of a variety of forms and
had many names : besides which, fashions of course
changed as time went on, though, as I think, very
slowly. Moreover, the several names were often
loosely applied, like the English words ''coat,"
"mantle," " frock," &c. ; so that it is often im-
possible to fix exact limitations. But the articles
themselves were somewhat less vague than their
names : and, so far as they can be reduced to order,
the upper garments of men may be said to have been
mainly of four classes : —
1. A large cloak, generally without sleeves, varying
in length, but commonly covering the whole person
from the shoulders down.
CHAP. XVIII. J DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT. 385
2. A short tight-fitting coat or jacket with sleeves,
but with no collar.
3. A cape for the shoulders, commonly, but not
always, carrying a hood to cover the head.
4. A sort of petticoat, the same as the present
Highland kilt. There was nothing to correspond
with our waistcoat.
Sometimes only one of those was used, viz. either
the outer mantle or the short frock — with of course
in all cases the under and nether clothing ; but often
two were worn together ; sometimes three ; and
occasionally the whole four.
1. Loose Upper Garment. — The long cloak
assumed many shapes : sometimes it was a formless
mantle down to the knees ; but more often it was a
loose though shaped cloak reaching to the ankles.
This last was so generally worn by men in out-door
life that it was considered characteristic of the Irish.
It had frequently a fringed or shaggy border, round
the neck and down the whole way on both edges, in
front ; and its material was according to the rank or
means of the wearer. Among the higher classes it
was of fine cloth edged with silk or satin or other
costly material. Sometimes the whole cloak was of
silk or satin ; and it was commonly dyed in some
bright colour, or more often — as we have said —
striped or spotted with several colours. In the
numerous figures in the Book of Kells (seventh or
eighth century) the over-garment is very common :
sometimes it is represented full length, but often
only as far as the knees or the middle of the thigh.
The large outer garment of whatever material was
known by several names, according to shape, of which
2 c
886
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE.
[PART III.
tiie most common was brat or bratt : which appears
to have been a general term for any outer garment,
and which is still in common use, though somewhat
altered in meaning. The word fallainn [foiling] was
Fig. 117.
Representation of an Angel, showing the long narrow mantle described
in text. (From the Book of Kells : Dr. Abbott's Reproductions.)
applied to a loose cloak or mantle, reaching about to
the knees : but it has nearly or altogether dropped
out of use. A coarse loose wrap, either dyed or in
the natural colour of the wool, was called a lummon.
Women had similar cloaks, called by the same
CHAP. XVIII.] DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT.
387
names. They often wore a variously-coloured tunic
down to the very feet, with many folds and much
material — twenty or thirty
yards — which was different
from the bratt and from
the hooded cloak men-
tioned below. Under this
was a long gown or kirtle.
The long cloak worn by
women had often a hood
attached at top which com-
monly hung down on the
back over the cloak, but
which could be turned
up so as to cover the head
at any moment when
wanted. This still con-
tinues in use among the
countrywomen.
It is difficult or im-
possible to embrace all
varieties of clothing in
any formal classification :
and as a matter of fact
there was another article
of full-covering dress worn
in very early times by both
men and women, hardly
included in any of the
preceding descriptions. In
the Book of Kells (seventh
or eighth century) a large number of the figures, both
of men and women, have the usual outside mantle
2c 2
Imu. uli.
Representation of one of the Evan-
gelists, showing long narrow mantle,
described in text. (From the Book of
Kells: Dr. Abbott's Reproductions.)
388 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
generally reaching to about the knees, and under it
a long narrow garment like a petticoat (but not a
kilt), from the shoulders down to the insteps,
widening towards the bottom, yet so narrow that
it would obviously interfere with the free move-
ment of the feet in quick walking. I do not find
this mentioned in the written records anywhere — at
least so as to be recognisable ; but it is depicted so
often in the Book of Kells (figs. 117, 118) that it
must have been in general use.
Distinct apparently from the preceding over-
mantles was the loose-flowing tunic — worn over all
— usually of linen dyed saffron, commonly called
Uine [2 syll.], which was in very general use and
worn by men and women in outdoor life. This is
noticed by Spenser as prevalent in his time
(sixteenth century). It had many folds and plaits
and much material — sometimes as much as thirty
yards.
The outer covering of the general run of the
peasantry was just one loose sleeved coat or mantle,
generally of frieze, which covered them down to the
ankles ; and which they wore winter and summer.
2. Tight-fitting Upper Garments.— The tight-
fitting sleeved upper garment was something like the
present frock-coat ; but it had no collar, and was
much shorter, usually reaching to about the middle
of the thigh, and often only a little below the hips ;
with a girdle at the waist. It was often called inar,
but it had other names. Persons are very often
described as wearing this short coat with a brat or
mantle over it. The short coat is very well repre-
sented in the figures given on next page, which,
CHAP. XVIII.] DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT. 389
however, belong to a comparatively late time, but
serve to show how this garment held onln fashion.
Fig. ii
Group on ancient engraved book-cover of bone, showing costume : one with
cymbals ; and all engaged in some kind of dance : 14th or 15th century. (From
■Wilde's Catalogue.)
3. Cape and Hood. — The short cape, with or
without a hood, was called cocJioll, corresponding in
shape and name with the Gallo-Roman ciiculliis,
English cowl : but this English word coivl is now
often applied to a hood simply. This fashion con-
tinued long : Thomas Dineley (in 1675) observed
that the men, in parts of Ireland, covered their heads
with their cloaks.
4. The Kilt.— The Gaelic form of this name is
celt [kelt], of which " kilt" is a phonetic rendering.
The word occurs so seldom, and is used so vaguely,
that we might find it difficult to identify the parti-
cular article it designates, if the Scotch had not
retained both the article itself and its name : for the
Highland kilt is the ancient Irish celt. The kilt —
commonly falling to the knees — is very frequently
390
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
met with on the figures of manuscripts, shrines, and
crosses, so that it must have been very much worn
Fig. 120.
The figures on one face of the shrine of St. Manchan (date, eleventh century).
They diminish in size to the right to suit shape of panel. (From Kilk. Archaeol.
Journ.)
both by ecclesiastics and laymen. It appears in a
very decided form in the eleventh -century illustration
given here (fig. 120).
CHAP. XVIII.] DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT.
891
Fasteners for Upper Garments. —The over-
garments were fastened by brooches, pins, buttons,
girdles, strings, and loops. Brooches will be treated
of in next section: Simple pins were generally
ornamented, head, or shank, or both, as seen in the
figures given on next page, of which the originals are
all in the National Museum, with many others.
Nether Garments. — The ancient Irish wore a
trousers which differed in some respects from that
worn at the present day. It gene-
rally reached from the hips to the
ankles, and was so tight-fitting as
to show perfectly the shape of the
limbs. When terminating at the
ankles it was held down by a
slender strap
passing under
the foot, as seen
in one of the
figures in the Book of Kells.
Like other Irish garments
it was generally striped or
speckled in various colours.
Leggings (called ochra) of
cloth or of thin soft leather
were worn, probably as an
olive-green (From a copy of Giraldus, aCCOmpailiment tO the kilt.
A.u. 1200. Wilde s Catalogue.) i^v/w^.^^
They were laced on by
strings tipped with findruine or white bronze, the
bright metallic extremities falling down after lacing,
so as to form pendant ornaments. There are many
passages in our ancient literature showing that it
was pretty usual with those engaged in war to leave
Fig. 121.
Showing the tight trews or trousers,
with di/allaiiin or short cloak, dyed
Fig. 122.
Fig. 123.
Fig. 124. Fig. 125. Fig. 126.
Fig. 128.
Fig. 127.
Bronze button and pins: all very ancient Figure 122, a highly-decorated bronze
button, enamelled in red and green, with a small metal fastening-loop at back, as on
modern buttons : natural size. Figures 124, 125, 126, bronze pins, natural size ; figure 128,
bronze pin, 13J4 inches with disk 2^ inches in diameter. (All from Wilde's Catalogue.)
C3AP. XVIII.] DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT.
393
the legs naked : a fashion perpetuated by the Scotch
to this day. This fashion is also indicated by such
nicknames as Glunduff (' black-knee '), Glungel
('white-knee'), &c, which were very common.
As illustrative of all that precedes, a series of
costumes of the year 1600 are presented here.
Irish Costumes, A.D. 1600. (From Speed's map of Ireland: A.D. 1611.)
Figures 129 and 130, gentleman and lady of the high classes. Figures 131
and 132, persons of the middle rank. Figures 133 and 134, peasants. ,
Underclothing. — Both men and women wore a
garment of fine texture next the skin. This is con-
stantly mentioned in the tales, and, whether for men
394 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
or women, is denoted by the word Uine or Une
[2 syll.], which is now the common Irish word for a
shirt. It was usually made of wool or flax : some-
times it was of silk, occasionally of satin, highly
ornamented with devices in gold and silver thread,
worked with the needle.
Girdles and Garters.— A girdle or belt (Ir. eriss)
was commonly worn round the waist, inside the
outer loose mantle ; and it was often made in such
a way as to serve as a pocket for carrying small
articles. Sometimes a bossan or purse (also called
spardn) was hung from it, in which small articles
were kept, such as rings. The girdles of chiefs and
other high-class people were often elaborately orna-
mented and very valuable : worth from £40 to £100
of our money. Garters were worn, sometimes for
use and sometimes for mere ornament, or to serve
both purposes. They were made of various materials
according to the rank of the wearer : kings, chiefs,
and ollaves of poetry often wore garters of gold.
GlOYes. — That gloves were commonly worn is
proved by many ancient passages and indirect refer-
ences. They appear to have been common among
all classes — poor as well as rich. One of the good
works of charity laid down in the Senchus Mor is
"sheltering the miserable," which the gloss explains,
"to give them staves and gloves and shoes for God's
sake." The evangelist depicted in the Book of Kells
(fig. 118, p. 387, above) wears gloves, with the fingers
divided as in our present gloves, and having the tops
lengthened out beyond the natural fingers. Rich
people's gloves were often highly ornamented. As
to material : probably gloves were made, as at
CHAP. XVIII.] DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT. 395
present, both of cloth and of animal skins and furs.
The importance and general use of gloves as an
article of dress are to some extent indicated by their
frequent mention and by the number of names for
them. The,. common word for a glove was lamann,
which is still in use.
Head Gear. — The men wore a hat of a conical
shape, without a leaf, called a barred [barraidj, a
native word, of which the first syllable, barr, signifies
top. Among the peasantry, the men, in their daily life,
commonly went bare-headed, wearing the hair long
behind so as to hang down on the back, and clipped
short in front. Sometimes men, even in military
service, when not engaged in actual warfare, went
bare-headed in this manner. In the panels of one
of the crosses at Clonmacnoise are figures of several
soldiers : and while some have conical caps, others
are bare-headed. Camden describes Shane O'Neill's
galloglasses, as they
appeared at the
English court in the
sixteenth century, as
having their heads
bare, their long hair
curling down on the
shoulders and clipped
short in front just
above the eyes.
Married women
usually had the head
covered either with
a hood (caille, pron. cal-le) or with a long web of
linen wreathed round the head in several folds. The
Fig. 135.
Portion of "a light gauzy woollen veil, of most
delicate texture " (Wilde). Found on the body
of a woman. (From Proc. Roy. Ir. Acad.)
396
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE.
[PAUT III.
veil was in constant use among the higher classes,
and when not actually worn was usually carried,
among other small articles, in a lady's ornamental
hand-bag.
Foot-Wear. — The most general term for a shoe
was brog, which was applied to a shoe of any kind :
it is still the word in common use. The brog was very
often made of untanned hide, or only half tanned,
free from hair, and retaining softness and pliability
like the raw hide. This sort of shoe was also often
Fig. 136.
Ancient Irish ornamented Shoe: in Nationa Museum.
called cuardn or citarog, from which a brogue-maker
was called cuardnaidlie [cooraunee]. This shoe
had no lift under the heel : the whole was stitched
together with thongs cut from the same hide. But
there was a more shapely shoe than the cuaran, made
of fully tanned leather, having serviceable sole and
heel, and often highly ornamented. There are several
specimens of such shoes in the National Museum,
Dublin, of which one is represented here (fig. 136).
To this kind of shoe the two terms ass (pi. assa)
and maelan were often applied ; but these have long
CHAP. XVIII.] DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT.
197
dropped out of use. Most of the figures depicted in
the Book of Kells and on the shrines and high crosses
have shoes or sandals, though some have the feet
bare. One wears well-shaped narrow-toed shoes
seamed down along the instep, something like the
shoe represented on last page (fig. 136), but much
finer and more shapely. Some have sandals consist-
ing merely of a sole bound on by straps running over
the foot : and in all such cases the naked toes are
seen. On many of the sandals there are what appear
to be little circular rosettes just under or on the
ankles, one on each side of the foot — perhaps mere
Fig. 137.
Small portion of panel in Book of Kells, showing sandals under
feet, with rosettes. (Dr. Abbott's Reproductions.)
ornaments. They are seen in the figure of the angel,
p. 386, supra ; and more plainly in fig. 137 given
here, also from the Book of Kells.
In many of the most ancient Irish tales we often
find it mentioned that persons wore assa or maelassa
or shoes made of silver or oijmdruine (white bronze).
Such shoes or sandals must have been worn only
on special or formal occasions : as they would be so
inconvenient as to be practically useless in real every-
day life. As confirming this idea of temporary and
exceptional use, we have in the National Museum
a curious pair of (ordinary leather) shoes — shown in
398
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE.
[PART III.
the illustration — connected permanently, so that
they could only be used by a person sitting down or
standing in one spot.
In whatever way and for whatever purpose the
metallic shoes were used, they must have been pretty
common, for many have been found in the earth,
Fig. 138.
Pair of shoes permanently connected by straps : two soles
and straps cut out of one piece. Most beautifully made.
(From Wilde's Catalogue.)
and some are now preserved in museums. There
were tradesmen, too, who made and dealt in them,
as is proved by the fact that about the year 1850
more than two dozen ancient bronze shoes were
found embedded in the earth in a single hoard near
the Giant's Causeway.
,CHAP. XVIII.] DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT. 399
The finding of bronze shoes, and in such numbers,
is a striking illustration of how the truthfulness of
many old Irish records, that might otherwise be
considered fabulous, is confirmed by actual existing
remains.
3. Personal Ornaments.
Legendary Origin.— In ancient Irish tales and
other records, referring to both pagan and Christian
times, gold and silver ornaments — especially gold —
are everywhere mentioned as worn by the upper
classes : and these accounts are fully corroborated by
the great numbers of objects of both metals found
from time to time in various parts of Ireland.
In the National Museum there is a great collection
of ancient artistic ornamental objects, some of pure
gold, some of silver, and some of mixed metals and
precious stones. All, or nearly all — of whatever
kind or material — are ornamented in various patterns,
some simply, some elaborately. Those decorated
with the peculiar patterns known as opus Hibernicum
or Irish interlaced work were made in Christian times
by Christian artists, and are nearly all of mixed
metals and precious stones. Those that have no
interlaced work, but only spirals, circles, zigzags,
lozenges, parallel lines, &c, are mostly of pagan and
pre-Christian origin, many of them dating from a
period long antecedent to the Christian era. Nearly
all the gold objects, except closed rings and bracelets
— and most even of these — belong to this class —
made in pagan times by pagan artists. All the articles
of gold are placed in one compartment of the Museum,
and they form by far the largest collection of the
400 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PAET III.
kind in the British Islands : twelve or thirteen times
more than that in the British Museum.
Fig. 139.
Irish Bracelet or Armlet, of solid gold, double size of picture,
of beautiful shape and workmanship : weighs 2U oz- • in National
Museum. (From Wilde's Catalogue.)
Rings and Bracelets.— Among the high classes
the custom of wearing rings and bracelets of gold,
silver, and findruine (white bronze) on the fore-arm,
Fig. 140.
Bronze Bracelet: in National Museum.
(From Wilde's Catalogue.)
wrist, and fingers — including the thumb — was uni-
versal, and is mentioned everywhere in ancient Irish
literature. The words for a ring, whether for finger
CHAP. XVIII.] DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT. 401
or arm, are fail : fdinne [faun-ye] : nasc, which was
applied to a ring, bracelet, collar, or tie of any kind :
and sometimes flesc. The word id was applied to a
ring, collar, circlet, or chain. Still another name for
a ring or bracelet was hunne [2 syll.]. These several
names were no doubt applied to rings of different
makes or sizes: but the distinctions have been in
many cases lost.
Both men and women belonging to the highest
and richest classes had the arm covered with rin^s
of gold, partly for personal adornment, and partly
to have them ready to bestow on
poets, musicians, story-tellers, and
ollaves of other arts, who acquitted
themselves satisfactorily. Circlets
of gold, silver, or findruine were
also worn round the legs above
the ankle. Fully answering to all
the entries and descriptions in the
records we find in the National
Museum in Dublin, and in other
Irish museums, gold and silver rings and bracelets of
all makes and sizes : some pagan, some Christian.
Precious Stones and Necklaces.— Ireland pro-
duced gems of many kinds — more or less valuable —
which were either worn as personal ornaments by
themselves — cut into shape and engraved with
patterns— or used by artists in ornamental work.
Precious stones are often mentioned in ancient
Irish writings. In Kerry were found — and are
still found — " Kerry diamonds," amethysts, topazes,
emeralds, and sapphires : and several other precious
stones, such as garnet, were found native in other
2d
Ancient Irish Finger-ring :
pure gold. In the National
Museum. (From "Wilde's
Catalogue.)
402
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE.
[PART III.
parts of the country. A pearl was usually designated
by the word ski [shade] : but this word, as we shall
see in chapter xxiii., sect. 4, was also- applied to a
Fig. 142. Fig. 143. Fig. 144.
Beads or Studs of jet : in National Museum. Used as buttons or fasteners,
or strung for necklaces. (From Wilde's Catalogue.)
cow regarded as an article of value or exchange ; and
it was often used to designate a gem or jewel of any
kind. Ski is still in use in this last sense. Several
Irish rivers were formerly celebrated for their pearls ;
and in many the mussels that produce pearls are
found to this day — often with pearls in them.
Of the various ornaments worn on the person, the
common necklace was perhaps the earliest in use.
Necklaces formed
of small shells are
Fig. 145. Fig. 146.
Gold Beads: portions of necklaces: natural size.
In National Museum. (From Wilde's Catalogue.)
common among
primitive people
all over the world,
and they have been
found with skele-
tons under cromlechs in several parts of Ireland,
of which specimens may be seen in the National
Museum in Dublin, belonging to prehistoric ages.
In historic times necklaces formed of expensive gems
of various kinds, or of beads of gold, were in use in
Ireland ; and they are frequently mentioned in the
tales and other ancient Irish records.
(?HAP. XVIII.] DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT. 403
Torques or Muntorcs. — Besides the necklaces
properly so called, there were various kinds of gold
and silver ornaments for wearing round the neck, of
which perhaps the best known was the torque, which is
repeatedly mentioned in our literature under the names
tore and muntorc. The torque was often formed of a
single straight bar of gold, square or triangular, from
which the metal had been hollowed out along the flat
sides, so as to leave four, or three, ribbons along the
corners, after which
it was twisted into a
spiral, something like
a screw with four, or
three, threads : and
the whole bar bended
into a circular shape.
But they were formed
in other ways, as
may be seen by an
inspection of those in
the National Museum
in Dublin. There are
in this Museum many
muntorcs of various shapes and sizes. Some are barely
the size of the neck, while others are so large that
when worn they extended over the breast almost to
the shoulders : and there are all intermediate sizes.
One of the largest, found at Tara in the year 1810,
is represented here (fig. 147). The one represented
in fig. 148 is of unusual make, being formed by
twisting a single plate of gold, and having two
apples or balls of gold at the ends. The custom of
wearing torques, as well as rings and bracelets, was
2d2
Fig. 147.
Gold Torque : in National Museum :
15^4 inches in diameter : found in 1810 in
a mound at Tara. (From Petrie's Tara.)
404 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART IIlj
in ancient times very general, not only among the
Irish, but among the northern nations, both of
Fig. 148.
Gold Torque, half size of original: now in National Museum: found near
Clonmacnoise. (From Wilde's Catalogue.)
Europe and Asia, especially the Gauls, as all who
have read Eoman history will remember.
Crescents, Gorgets, or Necklets.— The word
muince [moon-ke] denotes a neck-circlet, from muin,
the neck. It was used in several different applications ;
but the necklets that we find constantly mentioned in
CHAP. XVIII.] DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT. 405
the ancient tales by the name mnince are to be gene-
rally understood as golden gorgets or collars for the
neck, worn by both men and women, now often
conveniently called " crescents." These golden cres-
cents are of three main types. The first is quite
Fig. 149.
Gold Crescent of the first type, one continuous bright plate : 7 inches in outside
diameter: weight, 18 dwts. In National Museum. (From "Wilde "s Catalogue.)
flat, thin, and brightly burnished. Most of those of
this kind are ornamented in delicate line patterns,
which were produced by fine chisel-edged punches.
Crescents of this kind are often called by the name
lunula or lunette. Fig. 149 representsone of those
406
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
beautiful objects, of which there are now more than
thirty in the National Museum.
The second type, and by far the most elaborate, is
dish-shaped in general make, convex on one side,
Fig. 150.
Gold Muince, Crescent, or Gorget, of second type: the largest and" most
beautiful of this kind in the collection. Diameter 11 inches: weight, i6J^ oz.
Found in County Clare. Now in National Museum. (From 'Wilde's Catalogue.)
concave on the other : covered all over with orna-
mental designs. The illustrations (figs. 150 and
151) will give a good idea of the general shape, but
represent the ornamentation only imperfectly. There
CHAP. XVIII.] DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT. 407
are five specimens of these gorgets in the Museum, all
of very thin gold. Both the general convex shape
and the designs were produced by hammering with a
mallet and punches on a shaped solid mould. The
designs are all raised from the surface (with corre-
Fig. 151.
Another gold Crescent, of second type : now in National Museum : 11 inches
in diameter: weight, 7l/z oz. (From Wilde's Catalogue.)
sponding hollows at the back) ; and in this respect
they differ from those of the other two kinds of cres-
cent in which the lines are indented. The patterns
and workmanship on these are astonishingly fine,
showing extraordinary skill of manipulation : they are
408
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE.
[part III,
indeed so complicated and perfect that it is difficult to
understand how they could have been produced by
mere handwork with moulds, hammers, and punches.
Yet they could have been done in no other way.
The circular bosses at the ends of these gorgets
deserve special notice. One of them is shown of half-
size in fig. 152. They were made separately from
the general body of the crescent, to which they are
securely fastened :
and the ornamenta-
tion on them is of.
extraordinary deli-
cacy and beauty.
Each of the little
circular ornaments
forming the two
rows between centre
and edge (19 in the
inner row, 28 in the
outer) consists of
three delicate raised
concentric circles,
each triple series of
circles round a
central conical stud or button, with point projecting
outwards : and in the centre of the whole boss is a
large projecting stud of the same shape surrounded
with raised circles : all of pure gold. Each boss
consists of two saucer-shaped discs, fastened (not
soldered) together all round the edge, with the convex
sides outwards so as to enclose a hollow space.
Of the five gorgets of this class in the Museum,
Wilde truly observes: — "It may with safety be
One of the gold Bosses (front view) at ends of
Crescents of second type : described in text.
Drawn half size. (From Wilde's Catalogue.)
CHAP.
XVIII.]
DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT.
409
asserted that, both in design and execution, they
are undoubtedly the most gorgeous and magnificent
specimens of antique gold work which have as yet
been discovered in any part of the world." In weight
they vary from four to sixteen ounces : and taking
material and workmanship into account they must
have been of immense value in their time.
Fig. 153.
Gold Crescent or Necklet of the third type : in National Museum : 7^ inches
across on the outside : weight 7 oz. (From Wilde's Catalogue.)
The necklets of the third kind, of which the
Museum contains five specimens, are of a semi-
tubular make, the plate being bended round so as to
form, in some specimens, about a half tube, in others
410 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
less than half. The gold is much thicker than in
those of the other two types. The one represented in
fig. 153, which is the largest and most perfect of the
five, is ornamented at the ends with a punched
herring-bone pattern. In an adjacent case of the
Museum are five models of the type of these five
real ones, of which the originals — all pure gold —
were found in Clare in the great hoard mentioned at
p. 420, below, paragraph at bottom,
All the muinces of the three types were intended,
and were very suitable, for the neck. The inside
circular-opening is in every case of the right size to
fit the neck, and on account of the flexibility of the
plates they can be put on and taken off with perfect
ease, even though the opening at the ends is only a
couple of inches, or less.
All these crescents — of the three types — were worn
on the neck with the ends in front, so as to exhibit
the ornamented bosses to full advantage. Some
have thought that the crescents of the first two types
(represented in figs. 149, 150, and 151) were worn on
the front of the head as diadems : but this was not,
and could not have been, the case : the crescents of
the three types were all muinces or necklets.
The Do-at and the Muince-do-at.— At each
extremity of all the muinces or crescents is a disc or
boss or button — seen in the illustrations — generally
circular, or nearly so : very elaborate in one of the
types, simple in the other two. Their primary use
was as fasteners, to catch the ornamental string
by which the necklet was secured. These terminal
appendages were known in ancient Irish records by
the name of at9 a word which means a knob, button,
CHAP. XVIII.] DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT. 411
or disc — a swelling of any kind. Accordingly these
gorgets, of all the three kinds, are designated muince-
do-at, ' the necklet of the two ats or terminal discs.'
Fig. 154.
Fig. 155.
Fig. 156.
Examples of the gold Bu7tne-do-at or fibula : drawn half size : all in National
Museum. Figure 154, hollow; weight, -z% oz. Figure 155, solid; over 3% oz.
Figure 156, hollow : 5% oz. (From Wilde's Catalogue.)
The Bunne and the Bunne-do-at.— There is a
class of gold objects in the National Museum, very
numerous — much more numerous than any other
gold articles— and of various shapes and sizes, but
412
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE.
[PART III.
Fig. 157.
Fig. 158.
Two specimens of the very small gold
Bunne-do-at: full size : originals in National
Museum. (From Wilde's Catalogue.)
all agreeing in two points of similarity : — open rings
with ats or buttons at the two ends, of which figs. 154,
155, and 156 represent typical examples. These
are what are called in the old records by the name
Bunne-do-at, in which bunne (or limine) means ' a
ring,' and do ' two ' : — Bunne-do-at, a ring with two
ats, terminal knobs, or
buttons. The designa-
tion Bunne-do-at for
these rings is exactly
similar to Muince-do-at
for the neck crescents,
and 'applied for the
same reason. There are
in the Museum about
150 specimens of the
Burme-do-at : they are
now commonly called by the name "Fibula." They
are of various shapes, as shown in the figures ; and
are of all sizes, from the diminutive specimens here
shown in their natural size to the great bunne-do-at
represented in fig. 159, the largest known to exist.
The Bunne-do-at was used as a personal ornament,
and also as a mark of affluence — like many valuable
articles of the present day — the size and value of
course depending on the rank and means of the
wearer. These articles were sometimes worn in
pairs, one on each breast, and sometimes singly,
on one breast : suspended from buttons like that
shown at page 392, fig. 122. In one of the old tales
certain persons are described as wearing Bunne-do-ats
each of thirty ungas or ounces of gold (equal 22 h- oz.
Troy). There is not necessarily any exaggeration in
CHAP. XVIII.] DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT. 413
this statement, inasmuch as the Trinity College
bunne-do-at figured here is much heavier, weighing
33 Troy ounces.
Fig. 159.
Solid gold Bunne-do-at, one-third size. Now in the Museum of Trinity
College, Dublin : 33 oz. So far as is known, the heaviest of its kind in
existence. (From "Wilde's Catalogue.)
Circular Gold Plates.— Among the gold orna-
ments in the National Museum are a number of very
thin circular plates,
with raised ornamental
patterns punched from
the back, varying in
diameter from \\ inch
up to 4 inches. Fig.
160 represents one of
these, 3J inches in
diameter, found near
Ballina in Mayo. All
of them have the two
holes at the centre
(shown here) for
fastening on the dress.
Brooches. — The- brooch was worn by both men
and women, and was the commonest of all articles
Fig. 160.
Circular gold Plate. One of those in National
Museum. (From "Wilde's Catalogue.)
414 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
of jewellery. It was used to fasten the mantle at the
throat and w7as fixed crosswise. Its value — like that
of the bunne-do-at — depended on the rank and means
of the wearer. The poorer people wore a plain one
of iron or bronze, with little or no ornamentation ;
but kings, queens, and other persons of high rank
wore brooches made of the precious metals set with
gems, and in Christian times elaborately ornamented
with the peculiar Irish interlaced work. These must
Fig. 161.
Specially-shaped bronze Brooch : natural size : original in National Museum :
pin turning on a hinge : one of the most beautiful bronze articles in the Museum,
both as to design and workmanship. Ornamentation on the ends produced by
punching or hammering from behind. Found in a crannoge. (From Wilde's
Catalogue.)
have been immensely expensive. That the descrip-
tions given of brooches in old Irish wTitings are not
exaggerated we have ample proofs in some of those
now preserved in our Museums, of which the Tara
Brooch figured at p. 248 is the most perfect.
The general run of brooches, had the body circular,
from two to four inches in diameter, with a pin from
six to nine inches long. But some were much
smaller, while others again were larger and longer,
and reached in fact from shoulder to shoulder. These
CHAP. XVIII.] DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT. 415
great brooches are often noticed in the records ; and
the Brehon Law mentions a fine for injuries caused
by the ^points extending beyond the shoulders. As in
many other cases, the records are here corroborated
by existing remains ; for among the collection of
brooches in the National Museum are two specimens
22 and 20 inches long respectively. Brooches were
made of other shapes also, of which one is repre-
sented opposite.
The usual names for brooches were dehj (a ' thorn'),
eo [1 syll.], cassan (' having a twisted shape'), roth
(' a wheel '), and brethnas : but there were others.
The Lann, Blade, or Plate. — It was customary
to wear a band or ribbon of some kind round the
forehead to confine the hair. It was generally of
some woven fabric ; and it will be mentioned farther
on that a charioteer wore a bright yellow gipm or fillet
in this manner as a distinctive mark. Among the
higher and richer classes the band was often a very
thin flexible plate, strip, or ribbon, of burnished gold,
silver, or findruine. This was what was called a lann,
i.e. ' blade,' or more commonly niam-lann, * bright-
blade.'
The Minn, Diadem, or Crown. — Kings and
queens wore a diadem or crown, commonly called
mum: often designated minn oir, 'diadem of gold ' :
which does not mean wholly of gold, but ornamented
with gold. The minn, however, was not confined to
kings and queens, but was worn by men and women
belonging to all the higher classes, probably indicating-
rank according to shape and make, like the coronets
of modern nobility. It was not worn in common, but
Was used on special occasions : a lady usually carried
416
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE.
[PAUT III.
her minn-oir in her ornamental work-bag, along with
other such valuable or ornamental articles, ready to
be used at any moment.
The Irish minn, diadem, or crown was very expen-
sive, and elaborately made, its value and shape being
in accordance with the rank of the wearer. The body
was of some fabric,
probably silk or satin,
adorned with gold, silver,
white bronze, gems, and
enamel. It was a cap
made to encircle and
cover the head, of which
a good idea is given by
the illustration (fig. 162),
a representation of an
Irish king, seated in
state ; copied from the
high cross of Durrow,
erected about a.d. 1010.
The original crown of
which this is a represen-
tation was about five
inches high, quite flat
on top, with a slender
band all round, above
and below, the two bands connected by slender little
fillets or bars, about two inches asunder. It covers
the whole head like a hat, and there are two bosses
over the ears, three or four inches in diameter.
The Irish crown varied in shape, however. It is
pretty certain that some had rays or fillets standing
up detached all round. Crowns of this kind, be-
Crowned Irish king, seated, with shield,
sword, and spear : a dog on each side.
[(From the high cross of Durrow.) Copied
here from a drawing by Miss Stokes.
CHAP. XVIII.] DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT. 417
longing to the O'Conors, kings of Connaught, as
represented in the thirteenth-century fresco-painting
in Knockmoy Abbey, are shown at p. 24 ; and they
are also mentioned in our old
records. Two small objects
now in the National Museum
are believed to be portions —
rays or fillets — of an old
Irish radiated crown. One
of them is figured in outline
here ; but this illustration
gives no idea of the extra-
ordinary beauty of the
original, which is ornamented
all over in richly coloured
enamel. Mr. Kemble, a dis-
tinguished English anti-
quarian, says of these two
objects : — " For beauty of
design and execution they Nationa, Ml
may challenge comparison
with any specimen of cast
bronze work that it has ever been my fortune to
see."
Earrings. — Men of the high class wore gold
earrings, as we know from Cormac's Glossary and
other old Irish authorities. An earring was called
Unasc, from u or o, ' the ear,' and nasc, ' a clasp
or ring.' There were several other names, all of
which — as well as unasc — mean ' ear-clasp ' or
1 ear-binder,' from which, and from other evidence
besides, we know that the ear was not pierced ; but
a thin elastic ring was clasped round it ; and from
2e
F.g. i6j.
Enamelled metallic object in
luseum : believed to be
a ray or fillet of a crown : half size,
i From Miss Stokes.)
418
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
the lower extremity of this another little ring was
suspended (like that represented in fig. 1C4).
Ancient Irish gold Earring: one of a pair
found in Roscommon.
Golden Balls for the Hair.— Both men and
women sometimes plaited the long hair ; and at the
end of the plait they fastened a thin, light, hollow
hall of gold, which was furnished for the purpose
with little apertures at opposite sides. Sometimes
these balls were worn singly — probably behind — and
sometimes in pairs, one on each side. These are
often mentioned in the tales. King Labraid is
described as having an apple of gold enclosing the
end of his hair [behind] : Cuculainn had spheres
of gold at his two ears into which his hair was
gathered : and a young warrior is seen having two
balls of gold on the ends of the two divisions of his
hair, each the size of a man's fist. Ladies had
several very small spheres — sometimes as many as
eight — instead of one or two large ones.
As corroborating the records, there are in the
National Museum a number of these golden balls,
CHAP. XVIII.] DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT. 419
found from time to time in various parts of Ireland.
They are all hollow and light, being formed of ex-
tremely thin gold : and each has two small circular
holes at opposite sides by means of which the hair
was fastened so as to hold the ball suspended. Each
is formed of two hemispheres, which are joined
with the greatest accuracy by
being made to overlap about
the sixteenth of an inch, and
very delicately soldered — so
that it requires the use of a
lens to detect the joining.
The one figured here is nearly
4 inches in diameter : so that
the old story-teller was not
wrong . in describing some of
these balls as " the size of a
man's fist."
Some recent writers have expressed the opinion
that these balls — large and small — were used for
necklaces — strung together on a string, and ranged
according to size : but this opinion is erroneous. At
the time they wrote — now fifty years ago — they had
not before them the information regarding the use of
gold balls for the hair that is now available to us.
The corroboration of the truthfulness of the old
records by existing remains has been frequently
noticed throughout this book ; and this is a very
striking example, inasmuch as the custom of wear-
ing gold balls in the hair seems so strange that it
might be set down as the invention of story-tellers,
if their statements were not supported.
Fig. 165.
Light hollow gold Ball, worn on
the end of the hair : 3% inches
in diameter. (From Wilde's
Catalogue.)
2e2
420 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
4. Short rough classified List of the Gold Objects in the
National Museum, Dublin.
More than 30 crescents of the first type (fig. 149) ; five of the
second (figs. 150, 151) ; five of the third (fig. 153).
Seven hollow balls for the hair (fig. 165).
Great numbers of bracelets and rings of various shapes and
sizes (figs. 139, 140, 141).
A number of long thin bright plates and ribbons (see p. 415).
About 150 of those open rings called bunne-do-at (figs. 154,
155, 156, 157, 158, and 159).
About 50 very small open rings -without the ats or buttons
(mentioned at page 477, below).
About a dozen thin circular plates with patterns, all with two
holes for fastening (fig. 160).
About two dozen torques of different sizes (figs. 147, 148).
A number of small ornamental beads for necklaces, of various
shapes (figs. 142, 143, 144, 145, 146).
An open spiral, 2^ inches long and 1 inch in diameter, with
nine spires, formed of one square wire.
Besides these there are a number of small objects not classified.
(The total weight of all these articles is a"bout 590 oz., which
is twelve or thirteen times the weight of the collection of gold
antiquities, from all England and Scotland, in the British
Museum. See pp. 399, 400.)
Models. — In 1854 an immense collection of gold articles were
found in a stone cist under a small clay mound near Quin in the
County Clare, most of them slender delicate rings of the kind
called bunne-do-at. In one glass-case of the National Museum
there are gilt-brass models of a portion of this find, consisting
mainly of about 100 bunne-do-ats, and five crescents of the
third type.
Sculpture on Chancel Arch, Monastery Church, Glendalough ; drawn, 1845.
(From Petrie's Round Towers.)
CHAPTEE XIX.
AGRICULTURE AND PASTURAGE.
Section 1. Fences.
ver since that remote time when legend
and history begin to give us glimpses of
the occupations of the inhabitants of
( this country, we find them engaged in
agriculture and pasturage. For both
of these purposes open land was neces-
sary ; and accordingly, the clearing of
plains from wood is recorded in the reigns of many
of the early kings as a public service worthy of
special notice. But there was always more pasturage
than tillage.
Farm Fences. — In very remote times, when the
population was small and the land was mostly com-
mon property (as pointed out at p. 81, supra), there
was little need for fences, and the country was mostly
open, so far as it was free from forest and bog. But
in course of time, as tillage gradually increased, and
private property in land became more general, it was
422 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
more and more necessary to fence off the portions
belonging to different individuals. Fences are re-
ferred to in our oldest literature : and how important
they were considered appears from the number of
regulations regarding them in the Brehon Law.
The general terms for a fence are ime, fdl, and aile
[imme, fawl, aule] .
Four kinds of farm-fences are specified in the
law : — First, a trench with the earth piled up on one
side as a high embankment ; a kind of fence still used
all through Ireland : Second, a stone wall of dry
masonry, which is still very general in stony districts
in the west and south : the Third was formed of
logs laid horizontally and securely fastened : the
Fourth consisted of pointed stakes standing six feet
above ground, and six or eight inches asunder, bound
securely by three bands of interwoven osiers, and
having a blackthorn crest on top.
Territorial Boundaries.— Fences such as these
were too slight and temporary to serve as boundary-
marks between large districts. Various landmarks
of a more enduring kind were assigned for them in
the law, some natural, some put down artificially.
Among these are: — a "stone-mark," i.e. a large
pillar-stone ; a " deer-mark," namely, the hair-marks
left by deer or cattle on the trees of a wood, or the
hair-marked footpath made by them along a plain ;
a " water-mark," i.e. a river, lake, or well ; a " way-
mark," i.e. a' king's road, or a carriage-road, or a
cow-road (see chap, xxiv., sect. 1) ; a " mound-
mark," i.e. a [great] mound or ditch or foss " or
any mound whatever," such as that round the trunk
of a tree.
CHAP. XIX.] AGPJCULTUKE AND PAST UK AGE.
423
Pillar-Stones and Ramparts. — That pillar-
stones were regarded as an important means of
marking boundaries is shown by their frequent men-
tion in the records. We are told in one law-tract
that when certain tribe-chiefs had taken possession
Fig. 166.
Specimen of a " Holed-stone." (From Kilk. Archaeol. Journ.)
of a district, they " erected boundaries or placed
pillar-stones there" ; and in another, that after land
has been enclosed a hole is made in the ground
on the boundary, into which is put " the chief's
standing-stone, in order that his share there may be
424 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
known." We have seen that a stone set up to mark a
boundary was sometimes called a "stone of worship":
corresponding with the pillar-stone god Terminus
worshipped by the Romans (see p. 120).
Boundary pillar- stones are found standing all over
the country. But pillar-stones were erected for other
purposes, of which the most usual was as a monu-
ment over a grave (for which see chap, xxvii., sect.
5, infra), a practice that prevailed in Christian as
well as in pagan times. Battles were often com-
memorated by pillar-stones as well as by earns and
mounds. It has been already mentioned that pillar-
stones were sometimes erected as idols. Many of the
standing-stones still remaining have a hole through
them from which they are commonly called " holed-
stones "; but the use of these is a mystery (fig. 166).
Pillar-stones are called by several Irish names : —
coirthe [curha] ; gall ; gallon ; and legann. As to
many or most of the pillar-stones now remaining in
the country, it is often hard or impossible to tell, in
individual cases, for which of the above-mentioned
purposes they were erected.
Many of the great mounds or ramparts also still
exist : and there is generally a popular legend that
they were rooted by an enormous enchanted black
pig. One of the largest of all is that in the valley of
the Newry river, which separated the sub-kingdoms
of Oriell and Ulidia. Great artificial dividing dykes
are found in every part of the world, some historic like
the Roman wall in Britain, and some prehistoric.
OfTa's Dyke dividing England from Wales is a grand
example : but the most stupendous artificial dyke in
the world is the great wall of China.
CHAP. XIX.] AGRICULTURE AND PASTURAGE. 425
2. Land, Crops, and Tillage.
Classification of Land. — Land was carefully
classified in the Brelion Law for the purpose of
fixing prices: there being three divisions of ''superior
or good arable land," and three of "weak arable
land."
Manure (Irish ottrach) is very often mentioned in
the Laws, showing the importance attached to it.
The manure mentioned in the Brehon Law was
chiefly stable-manure : and a law-tract mentions
also the application of shells to land to improve it.
This last tract, following old custom, enumerates
eleven different things that add to the value of land,
and estimates in seds or cows the amount added by
each. Of these the most important are : — a wood
properly fenced in : a mine of copper or iron : the
site of an old mill [with millrace and other acces-
sories, rendering easy the erection of a new mill] :
a road [opening up communication] : situation by
the sea, by a river, or by a cooling pond for cattle.
Digging for Water.— Various passages both in
the Brehon Laws and in general Irish literature
show that the ancient Irish understood the art of
obtaining water by digging deeply into the ground.
It must have been a pretty common practice more-
over, for the annalists assign a legendary origin for it,
a thing they never did except where the custom was
general. The Four Masters say, under a.m. 3991 :
"It was by this king (Fiacha) that the earth was
first dug in Ireland in order that water might be in
wells." The Greeks similarly assigned the origin of
426
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE.
[PART III.
their custom of digging for water to their old hero
Danaus, king of the Argives.
Crops. — Most of the native crops now in use were
then known and cultivated : chief among them being
corn of various kinds. Corn in general was denoted
by the words arbar [arvar or arroor] and ith [ih] ;
besides which there was a special name for each kind.
We know for a certainty that wheat (Irish cruithnecht,
pron. crunnat) has been cultivated in this country from
the most remote ages ; for we find it constantly
mentioned in our ancient literature : of which an
interesting illustration will be found in the record of
the death of the two princes in Mailoran's mill at
p. 457, below. So also as to oats (Irish coiree, pron.
curkh-ya) ; numerous references to its cultivation
and use are found in our most ancient literature.
In modern times, before
the potato became very
general, oats formed one
of the principal articles
of food of the people,
as it did of old. Barley
(Irish ebrna [orna])
and rye (Irish segal,
pron. shaggal) were
cultivated, and formed
an important part of the
food supplies.
Corn was cut with a sickle or reaping-hook,
anciently called serr or searr [sharr] ; but the
present name is carrdn. Many specimens of
reaping-hooks have been found in Ireland, some
of bronze and some of iron, which may be seen in the
Fig. 167.
Ancient Irish bronze reaping-hook* of
beautiful workmanship, 6',{ inches long. It
was fitted with a handle, which was fastened
in the socket with a rivet. In the National
Museum, Dublin. (Wilde's Catalogue.)
CHAP. XIX.] AGRICULTURE AND PASTURAGE. 427
National Museum in Dublin. They are all small,
and cutting with them must have been slow work.
Those of bronze are very ancient — probably beyond
the reach of history. The iron ones are hardly so
old ; but still they have the look of great antiquity.
Meadow-grass was cut with a scythe anciently and
still called speed [spal].
The corn while in sheaves was stacked in a
haggard, which was called ithlann, ' corn -yard.'
The rick (Ir. crueich) was commonly covered with
thatch, twined or woven with ropes to protect it
from wind and rain. The sheaves were threshed
with a suist or flail, as at present.
Farm Implements. — Most of the common im-
plements employed in farm-work at the present
day were used by the ancient Irish, though no
doubt they were somewhat different in make. The
use of the plough was universal. The old word for
it was arathar [arraher], but it is now called ckhtei
[kaighta], which is also an ancient word. Several of
the parts of the plough are mentioned in the old
records. The iron coulter or ploughshare was called
socc, which is the word still used. The plough
was generally drawn by oxen : but sometimes by
horses. The ploughman had each ox held by a
halter, and he also carried a sharp goad (Irish brot),
"so that" — as the law tract expresses it — "the ox
may be mastered."
For breaking clods of clay in a ploughed field
farmers used a clod-mallet called forcca or fareha,
which means a mallet of any kind : it had a wooden
handle, the head being also made of wood. They
used a spade (ramei) and a shovel (sluasat), both
428 SOCIA.L AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
fixed on wooden handles and both probably made
of iron. In Cormac's Glossary the word for a spade
is fee, which is still in use even among the English-
speaking people of many parts of Ireland, who call a
spade feck ovfack. Rama and sluasad are also retained
as living words for spade and shovel : but the former
takes the diminutive form ramhan, often shortened
to ran, both pronounced rawn. A rake was used,
which, as far as we can judge from the description of
it given in Cormac's Glossary, must have been much
the same as that used at present. It is called in the
Glossary rastal, which is the present name.
« 3. Some Farm- Animals.
Cows. — From the most remote ages, cows formed
one of the principal articles of wealth of the in-
habitants of this country ; they were in fact the
standard of value, as money is at the present day ;
and prices, wages, and marriage portions were
estimated in cows by our ancestors (see chap xxiii.,
sect. 4, infra). The most general Irish word for a
cow is bo, not only at the present day, but in the
oldest manuscripts. A bull is called tarbh [tarruv],
a word which exists in cognate forms in many
languages. Damh [dauv], an ox, is evidently cognate
with Latin dama, a deer. How it came to pass that
the same word signifies in Irish an ox, and in Latin
a deer, philologists may explain. The chief use of
the ox was as a draft and plough animal, for which
see " Oxen " in Index. The usual Irish word for
a calf is gamhan [go wan].
CHAP. XIX.] AGRICULTURE AND PASTURAGE. 429
Pigs. — In point of value to the community, pigs
came next to cows, and were of more importance to
the general run of people than horses. They were
kept by almost all, so that they were quite as plenti-
ful and formed as valuable an industry in old times as
at present. The usual Irish word for a pig wTas, and
is still, muc or mucc : a boar was called tore. A very
young pig was a barib or banbh [bonniv], a word which
is still known in the anglicised form of bonniv or
bomiy, or with the diminutive, bonneen or bonnivcen —
words used in every part of Ireland for sucking-pigs.
It was cheap and easy enough to feed pigs in those
days. Forests abounded everywhere, and the animals
were simply turned out into the woods and fed on
mast and whatever else they could pick up. Wealthy
people — chiefs and even kings, as well as rich farmers
— kept great herds, which cost little or nothing
beyond the pay of a swineherd : and they gave no
trouble, for, except in winter, they remained out day
and night, needing no sties or pens of any kind, being
sufficiently sheltered by the trees and underwood.
Woodland was generally a part of the "commons "
(p. 83, supra), where every member of the sept was
free to send his pigs to feed. The special time
for fattening was autumn, when mast abounded ;
and at the end of the season the fat pigs were
slaughtered : those that were left were kept in sties
during winter.
When woodland was not convenient, or when for
any other reason pigs had to be kept and fattened at
home, they were fed on corn or sour milk, and on
offal of various kinds : these were managed chiefly
by women. The custom of feeding pigs on malt-
430 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
grains, now so familiar near breweries, was also
practised by the ancient Irish : for we have seen
that brewing was then very common. The old
Irish race of pigs were long-snouted, thin-spare,
muscular, and active : and except when fat they
could scour the country like hounds. In the remote
forests there were plenty of wild pigs : and we have
many references to them in our literature. In the
twelfth century Giraldus gives us this testimony : —
11 In no part of the world are such vast herds of boars
and wild pigs to be found."
Sheep were kept everywhere, as they were of the
utmost importance, partly as food, and partly for
their wool : and they are constantly mentioned in
the Brehon Laws as well as in general Irish
literature. The common Irish word for a sheep
was, and is, cetera [caira].
4. Herding, Grazing , Milking.
Herding and Grazing. — There were special
keepers of cows, of sheep, of swine : the old word for
a cowherd was bochaill or buachaill [boohil] ; from bo,
1 a cow ': but in modern times the word buachail has
come to signify * boy ' simply, without any reference
to occupation. At the present day a shepherd is
called aedhaire and treudaighe [aira, traidee]. As an
aid to herding, bells were sometimes hung round the
necks of cows and sheep, and the law laid down a
fine for removing the bell. Such bells have continued
in use till this day : and in the National Museum may
be seen many specimens.
CHAP. XIX.] AGRICULTURE AND PASTURAGE. 481
The nature and use of "commons" have been
already explained (p. 83). The commons pasture
was generally mountain -land, usually at some distance
from the lowland homesteads ; and it was grazed in
common and not fenced in. Each head of a family
belonging to the tribe or fine had the right to send
his cattle on it, the number he was entitled to turn
out being generally in proportion to the size of his
farm. In regulating the right of grazing, animals
were classified, a cow being taken as the unit. The
legal classification was this : — two geese are equiva-
lent to a sheep ; two sheep to one dairt, or one-year-
old heifer ; two dairts to one colpach, or two-year-old
heifer ; two colpachs to one cow ; a cow and a colpach
equal to one ox. Suppose a man had a right to graze
a certain number of cows on the common : he might
turn out the exact number of cows, or the equivalent
of other animals, any way he pleased, so long as the
total did not exceed the amount of his privilege.
This custom continued down to recent times.
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it was
usual for all the people of a village or townland, after
putting down the crops in spring, to migrate to the
uplands with their families and cattle, living there in
temporary settlements during the summer, and return-
ing to their homes in the beginning of autumn in time
to gather in the crops. An upland settlement of this
kind was called a biiaile [booley] : and the custom —
which descended from early times — was known as
booleying by Anglo-Irish writers, several of whom have
described it.
Remnants of the old regulations regarding the
use of commons land survive in many parts of Ireland
432 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
to the present day. There are still "commons" —
generally mountain-land or lowland moors — attached
to village communities, on which several families
have a right to graze their cattle according to certain
well-defined regulations ; and there are bogs where
they have a right to cut peat or turf — a right of
turbary, as they call it : and if an individual sells or
otherwise disposes of his land, these rights always
go with it.
Farm Life and Milking. — The people of Ireland,
not the farming classes merely, but the general
community, were early risers, and went early to
bed. The active working-day in the houses of
farmers began at sunrise and ended when the cows
came to their stalls : and in the houses of chiefs it
began when the horse-boy let out the horses in the
morning, and ended at bed- time. In milking they
used a spancel (Ir. buarach) as at present, made, then
as now, of a stout rope of twisted hair, about two feet
long, with a bit of wood— a sort of long-shaped knob
fixed at one end, and a loop at the other end into
which the knob was thrust so as to fasten the spancel
round the two hind legs of the cow. Women always
did the milking, except of course in monasteries,
where no women were employed, and the monks
had to do all the work of the community. It has
been already mentioned that the monks, after the
milking, always brought the milk home in a special
vessel strapped on their backs, and went first to the
abbot that he might bless the milk before use,
Composed from the Book of Kells.
CHAPTER XX.
WORKERS IN WOOD, METAL, AND STONE.
Section 1. Chief Materials.
imber. — All the chief materials for the
work of the various crafts were pro-
duced at home. Of wood there was
no stint : and there were mines of
copper, iron, lead, and possibly of tin,
which were worked with intelligence and success.
We know that in early ages Ireland abounded
in forests ; so that wood as a working material was
plentiful everywhere. Even in the time of Giraldus
Cambrensis — the end of the twelfth century— when
clearances and cultivation had gone on for a thousand
years, the greater part of the country was clothed
with trees. He says : — " Ireland is well wooded and
marshy. The [open] plains are of limited extent
compared with the woods." The common Irish
word for a tree was, and is still, crann : a wood is
coill or feadh [fah]. The Brehon Code, in setting
forth the law for illegally felling trees, divides them
into four classes, with a special fine for each class.
2f
434 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
Metals. — The metallic weapons and tools pre-
served in our museums are generally either of bronze
(sometimes brass, occasionally copper) or iron. The
bronze objects far outnumber those of iron, which
is partly explained by the fact that iron rusts and
wastes away much more quickly than bronze. It is
generally recognised that the three materials — stone,
bronze, iron — represent three successive stages of
human progress ; that is to say, stone in its use as a
material for tools and weapons is more ancient than
bronze, and bronze than iron. But there was no
sudden or well-marked change from one to another :
they all overlap. Stone was used in a primitive
stage when bronze was not known ; but it continued
to be used long after the introduction of bronze. So
bronze was used for some long period before iron
was known ; but continued ir use long after the
discovery of iron. And more than that : all three
were used together down into Christian times.
That the ancient Irish were familiar with mines,
and with the modes of smelting and of extracting
metals of various kinds from the ore, is shown by
the frequent notices of mines and mining both in
the Laws and in the general literature ; and the
truth of this documentary testimony is fully con-
firmed by evidence under our own eyes. Sir Eichard
Griffith remarks that the numbers of ancient mine
excavations still visible in every part of Ireland
prove that " an ardent spirit of mining adventure"
must have pervaded the country at some remote
period ; and he gives many instances. Of the de-
tailed smelting processes of the Irish we have very
little knowledge. But we know that, whether these
CHAP. XX.] WORKERS IN WOOD, METAL, AND STONE. 435
arts grew from within or were brought hither by
the first immigrants, the Irish miners successfully
extracted from their ores all the native metals then
known.
In Ireland as elsewhere copper was known before
iron. It was almost always used as bronze, which
will be treated of farther on. It is certain that iron
was known in Ireland at least as early as the first
century : probably much earlier. According to
tradition, the mines of Slieve-an-ierin (the * mountain
of iron '), east of Lough Allen in the County of
Leitrim, were worked by Goibniu, the great Dedannan
smith : and it is now as celebrated for its iron ore
as it was when it got the name, long ages ago.
Tinstone occurs in several parts of Ireland, such as
Wicklow, Dublin, and Killarney. But whether tin
was mined at home or imported from Cornwall —
or both, as is more likely — it was constantly used —
mixed with copper — in making bronze : and often,
in ornamental work, without any mixture. The
ores of lead are found in many parts of Ireland ;
and the mines were worked too, so that the metal
was sufficiently abundant. Zinc, which was chiefly
used in making brass, was also found, commonly in
connexion with lead. Gold and silver have been
already treated of.
2. Builders.
From the most remote times there were in Ireland
professional architects or builders, as there were
smiths, poets, historians, physicians, and druids ;
and we find them often mentioned in our earliest
literature. There were two main branches of the
2f2
436 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
builder's profession : — stone-building and wood-
building. An ollave builder was supposed to be
master of both, and, in addition to this, to be so
far acquainted with many subordinate crafts as to be
able to " superintend" them, as the Law expresses
it : in other words, to be a thorough judge as to
whether the work was properly turned out by the
several tradesmen, so as to be able to pass or reject
as the works deserved : all which resembles what is
expected from architects and builders of the present
day.
The most distinguished ollave builder of a district
was taken into the direct service of the king, and
received from him a yearly stipend of twenty -one
cows, answering to a fixed salary of £250 or £300
of the present day : for which he was to oversee and
have properly executed all the king's building and
other structural works. In addition to this he was
permitted to exercise his art for the general public
for pay : and as he had a great name, and had
plenty of time on hands, he usually made a large
income.
By far the most celebrated of all the ancient
architects of Ireland was the Gobban Saer, who
flourished in the seventh century of our era, and
who therefore comes well within historic times. He
is mentioned in the Lives of many of the Irish
saints as having been employed by them to build
churches, oratories, and houses, some of which still
retain his name. To this day the peasantry all over
Ireland tell numerous stories about him.
CHAP. XX.] WORKERS IN WOOD, METAL, AND STONE. 437
i|ll§fi
3. Braziers and Founders.
The word goba [gow] is applied to a worker? in
iron — a smith : cerd or cerdd [caird], to a worker
in brass, gold, and silver — a brazier, goldsmith, or
silversmith : saer to a carpenter, builder, or mason —
a worker in timber or
stone. These are the
usual applications : but
as the arts and trades
sometimes overlap, so the
words are often applied
in somewhat more
extended senses.
We have already seen
that the ancient Irish
were very skilful in
metallic art. Metallic
compounds were carefully
and successfully studied,
copper commonly form-
ing one of the ingre-
dients. The most general
alloy was bronze, formed
of copper and tin : but
brass, a compound of
copper and zinc, was also
used. The Irish name for copper was uma [ooa],
which is used also to denote both bronze and brass.
There were two chief kinds of bronze, red and
white, or rather reddish and whitish. The red
bronze was called derg-uma (dery, * red ') or cred-uma,
Fig. 168.
Brazier's or Goldsmith's Anvil : natural
size ; much worn : the little shallow
holes were for riveting. (From Wilde's
Catalogue.)
438
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III,
and the white was called finn-uina (fain, 'white'),
or findruine [fin-drine]. Findruine was much more
expensive than creduma, and was kept for the finer
kinds of work. The red bronze may be seen
in the spear-heads and caldrons in the National
Museum, and the findruine or white bronze in
the ornamental shrines,
and other ancient
works of art.
Metal-casting is very
often referred to in
general terms in our
literature, showing how
familiar it was : and
through these inciden-
tal references we get
now and then a glimpse
at the artists' tools and
appliances. The work-
men used charcoal for
their fires, that made
from birch-wood,
giving the greatest heat
then attainable, suffi-
cient— with the help
of a flux — to melt all
ordinary metals.
They used a ladle
(Irish, liachi) to pour
out the melted metal.
The exquisite skill of the ancient Irish braziers
is best proved by the articles they made, of which
hundreds are preserved in our Museum, Two illustra-
FlG. I
Inlaid hook, natural size.
Possibly for suspending a
sword. The scroll-work
indicates Christian times.
Now in National Museum.
(From Wilde's Catalogue.)
Spear-head, now in
National Museum,
where many equally
or more beautiful are
preserved. (From
Wilde's Catalogue.)
CHAP. XX.] WORKERS IN WOOD, METAL, AND STONE. 430
tions are given opposite (figs. 169 and 170); a beautiful
specimen of enamelled metal-work is described at
page 417, supra, and shown in fig. 163 ; and others
will be found in various parts of this book, especially
in the chapter on Art. The gracefully-shaped spear-
heads, which, in point of artistic excellence, are fully
equal to any of those found in Greece, Rome, or
Egypt, were cast in moulds : and we have not only
the spear-heads themselves but many of the moulds,
usually of stone, proving — if proof
Fig. 171.
Fig. 172.
Stone Moulds. Fig. 171 in Belfast Museum : fig. 172 in National Museum, Dublin.
(From Wilde's Catalogue.)
was needed — that all these articles were of native
manufacture. In one glass case in the National
Museum there are more than forty moulds for celts,
spear-heads, arrow-heads, &c. : some looking as
fresh as if they had been in use yesterday. The
old cairds were equally accomplished in making
articles of hammered bronze, of which the most
characteristic and important are the beautifully-
440 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
formed caldrons — many of exquisite workmanship —
made of a series of bronze plates, hammered into
shape and riveted together. Of these, numerous
specimens maybe seen in the National Museum ; and
some are figured in this book (see figs. 107, 108,
pp. 352, 353 ; also fig. 90, p. 315, above).
4. The Blacksmith and his Forge.
In a state of society when war was regarded as the
most noble of all professions, and before the invention
of gunpowder, those who manufactured swords and
spears were naturally looked upon as very important
personages. In Ireland they were held in great esti-
mation ; and in the historical and legendary tales, we
find smiths entertaining kings, princes, and chiefs,
and entertained by them in turn. We know that
Vulcan was a Grecian god ; and the ancient Irish had
their smith-god also, the Dedannan, Goibniu, who
figures in many of the old romances.
( 'erdcha [cairda] originally meant a workshop in
general ; but its most usual application was to a
forge : and it is still so applied, and pronounced
cdrtha (the first syll. long, as in star). A forge was
in old times regarded as one of the important centres
of a district. If, for instance, horses whose owners
were not known were impounded for trespass, notice
had to be sent to the dun or fortress of the nearest
lord, to the principal church, to the fort of the brehon
of the place, and to the forge of the smith : and
in like manner notice of a waif should be sent to
seven leading persons, among them the chief smith
of the district. For forges were places well fre-
CHAP. XX.] WORKERS IN WOOD, METAL, AND STONE. 441
quented, as they are at the present day, partly by
those who came to get work done, and partly by
idlers.
The anvil (inneoin, pron. innone), which was large
and heavy, and shaped something like that now in
use, with a long projecting snout on the side, was
placed on a block or stock, called cepp [kep]. The
smith held the red-hot iron in a tennchair [tinneher],
pincers or tongs, using his own hand-hammer, while
a sledger — if needed — struck with a heavy ord or
sledge, as we see at the present day.
A water-trough was kept in the forge, commonly
called umar. The smith kept a supply of wood-
charcoal in bags, called cual cr.dnn, i.e. ' coal of
wood.' I do not know if coal from the mine was
used : but the distinctive term cual crainn would
seem to imply that it was : and besides, very ancient
coal mines have been found near Ballycastle in
Antrim. The smith wore an apron commonly of
buckskin, like those smiths wear now.
The Irish name for a smith's bellows is builgg
[bullig], which is merely the plural form of bolg,
a bag, like the English bellows (' bags ') ; indicating
that, in Ireland as in other countries, the primitive
bellows consisted of at least two bags, which of course
were made of leather. Why two bags were used is
obvious — in order to keep up a continuous blast ;
each being kept blowing in turn while the other
was filling. This word buih/g the Irish continued
to employ for their bellows, even in its most improved
form, just as we now call the instruments we have in
use « bellows,' though this word originally meant
1 bags,' like the Irish builgg.
442
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE,
[PART III.
From several passages in old Irish literature we are
in a measure enabled to reconstruct the old Irish
smith's bellows, and exhibit the mode of working it.
In the flag standing at the back of the fire was a small
hole through which the pipe directed the air- current
from the bellows. The name given to the bellows in
Cormac's Glossary — di holy, 'two bags '—indicates
that the bellows in view here had two separate chambers
lying side by side. Each of these must have consisted
of an upper and an under board with sides of leather :
and in the under
board of each was
a simple clapper-
valve as in our
present kitchen-
bellows. From each
chamber extended a
pipe, the two pipes
uniting into one
which was inserted
into the hole in the
flagstone. The two
chambers were
and there must have
lever (aa in fig. 173)
Fire
Fig. 173.
Conjectural plan of double or two-chambered
orge-bellows. The bellows-blower stood with his
feet on BB, facing fire. AA, the cross-beam, turn-
ing on its centre. CC, clapper-valves in bottom
boards. The rest of the diagram explains itself.
placed close to each other
been a short cross-beam or
turning on a centre pivot, with its two ends loosely
fastened to the two backward projections of the upper
boards. In every forge there was a special bellows -
blower, who blew strongly or gently as occasion
required, sometimes directed by the smith. The
bellows was worked by the naked feet. The bellows-
blower stood on top, one foot on each board (at bb),
and pressed the two down alternately. As each was
CHAP. XX.] WORKERS IN WOOD, METAL, AND STONE. 443
pressed down, and its chamber emptied through the
pipe, the other was drawn up by its own end of the
cross-beam, and the chamber was filled through the
clapper-valve at bottom : and thus the chambers
were compressed and expanded in turn so as to keep
up a continuous blast. There was a cross-bar fixed
firmly above the bellows for the blower to grasp
with his hands, so as to steady him and enable him
to thrust downwards with his feet when a strong
blast was required, like a modern bicyclist when
mounting a hill.
The bellows used in private houses was totally
different in make and mode of using from the
forge-bellows, as well as from our present common
kitchen-bellows. It was one of those made to blow
by revolving fans inside : and it was made of
wood, with leather if needed. Accordingly it was
called — not builgg — but seidire [shaidera], i.e.
1 blower.' All this we infer from the accurate
description given in the Laws. This form of
bellows is still occasionally met with, but the body
is now made of lacquered tin instead of wood and
leather.
The last of the smith's appliances to be noticed
is the furnace : and the old Irish authorities enable
us to reconstruct this as well as the bellows. At
the back of the fire was an upright flag with a
little hole for the bellows-pipe. The other three
sides, which enclosed and confined the fire, were
made of clay specially prepared. When they got
burned or worn out they were cleared away and
replaced by a new structure. For this purpose a
mould was used, with an upright handle like that
444 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PAET III.
shown here (fig. 174). The mould was set in its
place, and the soft moist clay was
worked round three of its sides into
proper form with the hands, which
was done in a few minutes. Then the
mould was carefully lifted up, leaving
the new furnace ready for use. The
smith always kept a supply of the
Fig. 174. prepared furnace-clay in bags in his
Ate, or Mould. o
forge.
It was necessary to enclose the fire by a furnace ;
for the fuel in those days was of wood charcoal,
which being lighter than our coal, . would, if un-
confined, be blown about and scattered by the blast
of the bellows.
5. Carpenters j Masons, and other Craftsmen.
Carpenters.— Woodworkers of whatever kind do
not figure near so prominently in the ancient
literature as smiths and braziers ; yet they must
have been more numerous, for there was more work
to be done in wood than in metals. One important
source of employment for carpenters was the building
of houses, which in old times were nearly always of
wood : and there were special tradesmen for it.
The yew-tree was formerly very abundant. Its
wood was highly valued and used in making a
great variety of articles : so that working in yew
was regarded as one of the most important of trades.
It required great skill and much training and
practice : for yew is about the hardest and most
difficult to work of all our native timber ; and the
CHAP. XX.] WORKERS IN WOOD, METAL, AND STONE. 445
cutting tools must have been particularly fine in
quality. Various domestic vessels were made from
it— as we have seen— and it was used for doorposts
and lintels and other prominent parts of houses, as
well as for the posts, bars, and legs of beds and
couches, always carved. In the most ancient of
the tales we often find mention of houses ornamented
with " carvings of red yew."
Among other tradesmen, there were the diialaidhe
[doolee] or painter (from dual, a brush) ; the
rinnaidhe [rinnee] or metal engraver (from rinn, a
sharp point, a sharp-pointed instrument) ; and the
erscoraldhe [erscoree] or wood-carver. Carvers were
in much request and exercised their art in the
highest perfection on yew-wood.
Various Tools. — Besides other tools mentioned
elsewhere in connexion with certain special arts and
crafts, the following, chiefly used by wood-workers,
may be dealt with here. They are often noticed
in Irish literature, but more frequently in the Brehon
Laws than elsewhere. The old Irish wood- and
metal-workers seem indeed to have used quite as
many tools as those of the present day.
A saw had two names, taresc and rodhb [rove],
of which taresc is still used. There were — as at
the present day — several kinds of axes and hatchets
variously shaped, and used in different sorts of work,
as may be seen by the number of names for them,
and the manner in which they are often distinguished.
In all forms of axe, the metallic head was fixed on the
handle, the same as now, by wedging the wood
through the cro or opening in the iron or bronze.
The common hatchet used in the workshop was
446
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
called tuagh [tooa], which seems to be a general
name for a hatchet or axe of any kind. A Mail
[beeal] was a sort of axe often used in clearing
wood : &fidba [feeva] was like our common billhook.
Great numbers of bronze axes are preserved in the
National Museum, Dublin. The carpenter's hatchet
was probably like some of those figured on p. 56, supra.
A tdl [tawl] or adze —
i.e. an axe having the
edge across or at right
angles to the line of the
handle — was used for
special sorts of work ; as,
for instance, in making
wooden shields ; and of
course in cooperage. It
was an exceedingly com-
mon tool, and it is con-
stantly mentioned in all
sorts of records.
An awl, by whatsoever tradesman used, was called
menad or meanadh [manna], which is still the Irish
word all through Ireland. The old Irish carpenters
used an auger and called it tardthar [tarauher], a
name which is still in use. They had compasses
which they named gabidrinn [gowlrin], a term which
is quite descriptive, being compounded of the two
words, gabal, a fork, and rinn, a point : that is to
say a fork with two points.
The circles on some of the flat golden gorgets and
on some bunne-do-ats (pp. 405, 413, supra) were
obviously made with a compass : all going to confirm
the truthfulness of the records.
Fig. 175.
Bronze adze : in National Museum :
4% inches wide along edge. (From
Wilde's Catalogue.)
CHAP. XX.] WORKERS IN WOOD, METAL, AND STONE. 447
The mallet used by carpenters, fence-makers, and
other workmen, was generally called farcha ovforcha.
A sledge was called ord : an ordinary hammer was
Idmh-ord ('hand-sledge'): but sometimes cas-ord,
now generally made casur [cossoor]. The cas in
this, which means ' twisted ' or ' bended,' probably
refers to the ' claw,' so that a casord or casur would
be a ' claw-hammer.' The word mailin was used to
designate another kind of hammer, one without a
claw: for mailin means 'bald' or 'bare': a 'bare
or clawless little hammer. '
Carpenters used a rungenn or runcan, 'a plane':
in the Brehon Law, it is stated that the posts of the
doors and beds of certain classes of houses were
finished off with a moulding-plane. Workers in
wood used a sort of press called cantair, either for
straightening wood or forcing it into certain shapes
— after being softened probably by water or steam.
The ancient Irish builders used a crane of some
kind for lifting heavy articles, which they called
corr aurogbala [aurogala], ' a crane for lifting.'
Here the Irish word corresponding to ' crane ' is
corr, which is still the name of any bird of the
crane kind : and it is applied in this passage to the
machine, exactly like the English word crane, on
account of the long beak.
The lathe and other turning-wheels were well
known and employed for a variety of purposes. The
Brehon Law when setting forth the privileges of
various classes of craftsmen has tornoire or ' turners '
among them, explaining that these are the men " who
do turning." A much older authority, an eighth-
century Irish glossator, in his remarks on a verse
448
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
of one of the Psalms, gives an explanation of the
potter's wheel. The Irish word for a lathe is deil
[dell] ; and at the present day, speakers, whether
using the Irish or English language, call a lathe
a dell.
Chisels of a variety of shapes and sizes were used
by wood-workers : of which the following illus-
trations will give a very good idea : the originals —
Fig. 176. Fig. 177. Fig. 178. Fig. 179.
Bronze Chisels: in National Museum. (From Wilde's Catalogue.)
which are all of bronze — are preserved in the
National Museum. A large number of bronze
gouges are preserved in the same Museum ; but I
have not found any special Irish name for a gouge.
Among the collection of bronze tools found at
Dooros-Heath in King's County (next page) are three
gouges with the regularly curved edges, well adapted
for excavating and paring wooden bowls ard goblets :
CHAP. XX.] WORKERS IN WOOD, METAL, AND STONE. 449
Bronze Gouge
in Nat. Museum.
(From Wilde's
Catalogue.)
and about the same time another was found in
Wexford. The bronze of these and of all the other
cutting instruments in the King's County
collection is excessively hard. It may
be observed that bronze can be made
almost or altogether as hard as steel by
hammering.
Sharpening. — For sharpening edged
tools and weapons, the people used a
whetstone, which is called in Cormac's
Glossary cotud, literally meaning 'hard,'
and defined " a stone on which iron tools
or weapons are ground": but it is often
called lee, which is the general name for
a flat stone. They had also a circular
grindstone which was turned on an axis
like those now in use. The grindstone was
called Uom-bron [leev-vrone] , ' sharpening millstone,'
and also lic-limad [lic-leeva], ' stone of grinding ' —
corresponding exactly with the English name
" grinding- stone " : and it was turned round by
means of a cranked handle called ruiti.
Remains of Ancient Workshops. — It is worthy
of remark that the remains of ancient workshops
or factories belonging to several trades have been
discovered from time to time in different parts of
Ireland. About the year 1820 a brazier's workshop
was turned up in a place called Dooros-Heath, in the
parish of Eglish near Birr in King's County, where
great quantities of gold- coloured bronze articles were
found — bells, spearheads, celts, trumpets, gouges,
and so forth : also whetstones, flat, convex, and
concave. That this was a workshop is shown by
2g
450 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
several facts : many of the articles were unfinished
or only half made, while some were mended : and
there was one lump of unworked bronze — mere
material. The remains of a glass factory will be
found mentioned at p. 295, supra ; and an old work-
shop of a family of goldsmiths has lately been found
near Cullen in Tipperary. In parts of Ulster where
flints are common, flint workshops are sometimes
turned up, with vast numbers of finished and half-
finished flint articles. Ancient Gaulish workshops
of various crafts have in like manner been lately
found in France.
Masons and their work. — A knowledge of the
use of lime-mortar and of the arch was introduced
by St. Patrick and his foreign missionaries. Before
his time the Irish built their stone structures of dry
masonry : and not knowing how to construct an
arch, they brought their walls to converge in a
curve — like the ancient Greeks and other nations
of antiquity — by the gradual overlapping of the
flat-lying stones. Numerous specimens of their
handiwork in this department of ancient art still
remain, especially in the south and west, in the
beehive-shaped houses and stone cahers, which show
much skill in fitting the stones to one another so as
to form very close joints. Although the Irish did
not employ lime (Irish aol : pron. ail) in making
mortar till the fifth century, it was used as a
whitener in pagan times (p. 312, supra). They made
lime by burning limestone or sea- shells in a limekiln,
much as is done at the present day.
Numerous structures erected in Christian times,
but before the invasion, with lime-mortar, still re-
CHAP. XX.] WORKERS IN WOOD, METAL, AND STONE. 451
main all over the country, chiefly primitive churches
and round towers. It is only necessary to point to
'v..
r^
Fig. 181.
Round Tower of Devenish Island, in Lough Erne : 85 feet high. To illustrate
what is said here in the text as to beauty of outline and general shape. (From
Petrie's Round Towers.)
the round towers to show the admirable skill and
the delicate perception of gracefulness of outline
2g2
452
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
possessed by the ancient Irish builders. A similar
remark might be made regarding many of the ancient
churches, especially those called Romanesque.
f
Fig. 182.
Beautiful window of Castledermot Abbey. (From Miss Stokes's High Crosses
of Castledermot and Durrow.) To illustrate the statements about the skill of
Irish masons.
C. Protection of Crafts and Social Position of
Craftsmen.
Artificers of all kinds held a good position in
society and were taken care of by the Brehon Law.
Among the higher classes of craftsmen a builder of
an oratory or of ships was entitled to the same com-
pensation for any injury inflicted on him in person,
honour, or reputation, as the lowest rank of noble ;
and similar provisions are set forth in the law for
craftsmen of a lower grade. Elsewhere it is stated
CHAP. XX.] WORKERS IN WOOD, METAL, AND STONE. 453
that the artist who made the articles of adornment
of precious metals for the person or household of a
king was entitled to compensation for injury equal
to half the amount payable to the king himself for a
like injury.
As illustrating this phase of society we sometimes
find people of very high rank engaging in handicrafts.
One of St. Patrick's three smiths was Fortchern, son
of Laegaire, king of Ireland. But, on the other hand,
a king was never allowed to engage in manual labour
of any kind (p. 25, supra). Many of the ancient
Irish saints were skilled artists. In the time of
St. Brigit there was a noted school of metal-workers
near her convent, over which presided St. Conleth,
first bishop of Kildare, who was himself a most
skilful artist. St. Dega of Iniskeen in Louth was a
famous artificer. He was chief artist to St. Kieran
of Seirkieran, sixth century ; and he was a man of
many parts, being a caird or brazier, a goba or smith,
and besides, a choice scribe. In the Martyrology
of Donegal it is stated that " he made 150 bells,
150 crosiers : and also [leather] cases or covers for
sixty Gospel Books," i.e. books containing the Four
Gospels.
In the household of St. Patrick there were several
artists, all of them ecclesiastics, who made church
furniture for him. His three smiths were Macecht,
who made Patrick's famous bell called ' Sweet-
sounding ' ; Laebhan ; and Prince Fortchern, as
mentioned above. His three braziers were Assicus,
Tairill, and Tasach. In the " Tripartite Life " it is
stated that " the holy bishop Assicus was Patrick's
coppersmith ; and he made altars and quadrangular
454
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
tables, and quadrangular book-covers in honour of
Patrick." We have already seen how highly scribes
a-S^E^5?^^
Fig. 183.
Doorway of Rahan Church, King's Co., dating from middle of eighth century.
Specimen of skilled mason-work to illustrate what is said at pp. 451, 452, supra.
(From Petrie's Round Towers.
and book-illuminators were held in esteem. Nearly
all the artists selected by St. Patrick for his
CHAP. XX.] WORKERS IN WOOD, METAL, AND STONE. 455
household were natives, though there were many
foreigners in his train, some of whom he appointed
to other functions : a confirmation of what has been
already observed, that he found, on his arrival, arts
and crafts in an advanced stage of cultivation.
No individual tradesman was permitted to practise
till his work had been in the first place examined at
a meeting of chiefs and specially-qualified ollaves,
held either at Croghan or at Emain, where a
number of craftsmen candidates always presented
themselves. But besides this there was another
precautionary regulation. In each district there was
a head-craftsman of each trade, designated sai-re-cerd
[see-re-caird], i.e. ' sage in handicraft.' He presided
over all those of his own craft in the district : and
a workman who had passed the test of the examiners
at Croghan or Emain had further to obtain the
approval and sanction of his own head- craftsman
before he was permitted to follow his trade in the
district. It will be seen from all this that pre-
cautions were adopted to secure competency in
handicrafts similar to those now adopted in the
professions.
Young persons learned trades by apprenticeship,
and commonly resided during the term in the houses
of their masters. They generally gave a fee : but
sometimes they were taught free — or as the law-
tract expresses it — " for God's sake." When an
apprentice paid a fee, the master was responsible for
his misdeeds : otherwise not. The apprentice was
bound to do all sorts of menial work — digging,
reaping, feeding pigs, &c. — for his master, during
apprenticeship.
■ - -
Ornament on top of Devenish Round Tower. (From Petrie's Round Towers )
CHAPTER XXI.
COKN MILLS AND QUERNS.
Section 1. Mills.
very early Irish tradition, transmitted
through ancient manuscripts, assigns
the erection of the first watermill in
Ireland to the illustrious King Cormac
mac Art (reigned a.d. 254 to 277). He
sent " across the sea" for a mill-wright, who con-
structed a mill on the stream of Nith, flowing from
the well named Nemnach (' sparkling ') beside Tara.
The spot on which this mill was constructed, and
where a mill was kept working time out of mind
until very recently, was called Lismullin (the ' fort
of the mill ') : and the place, which is a mile north-
east from Tara, retains the same name to this day.
Whatever amount of truth may be in this tradition,
we have ample evidence that from a period soon after
the advent of St. Patrick, watermills were in very
general use all through Ireland, and were an
important factor in daily life, both in the monas-
teries and among the people in general. Each
muilenn [mullen] or mill was managed by a skilled
CHAP. XXI.] CORN MILLS AND QUERNS. 457
miiilleoir [millore] or miller. Mills and millers are
mentioned in the oldest Irish literature ; and monastic
mills are mixed up with the Lives of many of the
early Irish saints.
In the year 651 Donogh and Conall, the two
sons of Blathmac (one of the joint kings of Ireland —
a.d. 656 to 664:), were slain by the Leinstermen
at " the mill of Mailoran the son of Dima Cron."
This event, which created a great sensation at the
time, is recorded in Tighernach, as well as in all the
other principal Irish Annals. It happened in this
way. On a certain occasion Mailoran and his party
pursued the princes, who took refuge among the works
of the mill beside the mol or shaft : but the pursuers
opened the sluice and let the water run, so that the
mill was set going, and the young men were crushed
to death in the works. A contemporary poet
composed a poem on this event, in which he
apostrophises the mill in the following strikingly
vivid stanza : —
" 0 mill, Avhat hast thou ground ? Precious thy wheat !
It is not oats thou hast ground, but the offspring of Kervall
[i.e. the princes].
The grain which the mill has ground is not oats hut blood-
red wheat ;
With the scions of the great tree (Kervall, their ancestor)
Mailoran's mill was fed."
This mill was situated on the little river that runs
from Lough Owel to Lough Iron in Westmeath,
near the point where the river is now crossed by
a bridge ; and the place still retains the name of
Mullenoran. It is curious that a mill existed there
458 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
from the time of the death of the princes — and no
one can tell how long before — down to the end of
the eighteenth century ; and there are some old
people still living there whose grandfathers saw
it in full work.
A mulenn or mill is mentioned in the St. Gall
glosses of Zeuss — seventh or eighth century — at which
time the name mulenn, which is used in the Irish
passage copied by Zeuss, and which was borrowed
from Latin, had become well naturalised in the Irish
language. We may then take it for certain that
watermills — howsoever derived — were in use in
Ireland from the earliest ages of Christianity.
Accordingly the statement, which is sometimes
made, that mills were introduced into this country
by the Danes is quite erroneous, inasmuch as
they were known and worked here long before the
Danes ever appeared on our shores. But there is
as yet no sufficient evidence to prove that they
were known in pagan times.
Ancient mill -sites and the remains of old mills
have been found in various parts of Ireland buried
deep in bog or clay, always beside a stream, many
presenting appearances of very remote antiquity.
Some are small horizontal- wheel mills, which were
common down to recent times ; some are the remains
of larger mills with vertical overshot wheels. In most
of those sites millstones have been found, of various
sizes up to three feet in diameter : and there is often
a long narrow paken trough or shoot — generally
hollowed out from a single tree-trunk— for conveying
the water to the wheel. Parts of the framework
surrounding the mill, with the flooring, also remain
CHAP. XXI.] CORN MILLS AND QUEENS. 459
in some of these old sites, mortised together, but
never fastened by nails : the woodwork of all
generally of oak.
The mills used in Ireland were of various shapes
and sizes, which, as well as the modes of working
them and preparing the corn for grinding, will be
found fully described in my larger work, " A Social
History of Ancient Ireland."
Fig. 184.
Upper stone of a Quern : 18 inches in diameter : in National Museum.
(From Wildes Catalogue.)
2. Querns and Grain- Rubbers.
A grinding-machine much more primitive and
ancient than the water-mill was the quern or hand-
mill. It was called in Irish bro, gen. bron [brone] :
and often cloch-bhron [cloch-vrone] : clock, 'a stone':
460 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
but both these terms were also applied to a mill-
stone. The upper stone worked on an axis or strong
peg fixed in the lower one, and was turned round by
one or by two handles. The corn was supplied at the
axis-opening in the centre of the upper stone, and
according as it was ground between the two stones
came out at the edge. Sometimes it was worked
by one person, sometimes by two, who pushed the
handles from one to the other. In ancient times it
was — in Ireland — con-
sidered the proper work
of women, and especially
of the cumal or bond-
maid, to grind at the
quern. Querns were used
down to our own day in
Ireland and Scotland ;
r ™ w ► •. ' *°n ■ i and theY maY still be
Complete pot-shaped Quern : 9 inches J J
in diameter: in the National Museum. foillld at WOl'k ill SOUie
(From Wilde's Catalogue.) . .
remote localities.
The almost universal use of querns is proved by
their frequent mention in the Brehon Laws and
other ancient Irish literature, as well as by the
number of them now found in bogs, in or near
ancient residences, and especially crannoges. Some
of these are very primitive and rude, showing their
great antiquity. Quern-grinding was tedious work :
for it took about an hour for two women to grind
10 lb. of meal. It is hardly necessary to say that
the quern or handmill was in use among all the
ancient peoples of Europe, Asia, and Africa : and
that it is still employed where water-mills have not
found their way.
CHAP. XXI.] CORN MILLS AND QUERNS. 461
In comparatively modern times mill-owners who
ground the corn of the people for pay looked on the
use of querns with great dislike, as taking away
custom. Quern -grinding by the poorer people was
regarded as a sort of poaching ; and where the mill
belonged to the landlord he usually gave orders to
his miller to break all the querns he could find ; so
that the people had to hide them much as they hide
a still nowadays. In Scotland laws were made in
the thirteenth century to compel the poor people to
abandon querns for water-mills, all in the interests
of landlords and other rich persons. It was the
same in England : in 1556 the local lord in one of
the western English counties issued an order that no
tenants should keep querns " because they ought to
grind at their lord's mill." But these laws were quite
ineffective, for the people still kept their querns.
Grain-rubber : oval-shaped : 16 inches long.
(From Wilde's Catalogue.)
The most ancient grinding-machine of all, and
most difficult and laborious to work, was the grain-
rubber, about which sufficient information will be
derived from the illustration. Several of these
may be seen in the National Museum : they are still
used among primitive peoples all over the world.
MS. ornamentation. (From Miss Stokes s Early Christian Architecture.)
CHAPTER XXII.
TRADES AND INDUSTRIES CONNECTED WITH CLOTHING.
Section 1. Wool and Woollen Fabrics.
hearing and Carding. — The wool — called
in Irish olann — was taken from the
sheep with a shears, which, from the
manner in which it is mentioned, must
have been much like those used at
present. The usual old Irish name is
clemess (meaning ' two edges ' — mess,
1 an edge '), which is still used, in the modern form
deimheas (pronounced deeas). The shearing appears
to have been done by men : but after this the whole
work up to the finished cloth was regarded as
specially pertaining to women : except fulling, which
was often or mostly men's work. After being sorted,
the wool was scoured to remove the oiliness : then
teased or mixed : next combed or carded twice, first
roughly, and a second time more carefully and
finely. The carding (cirad, pron. keera : from cir, ' a
comb ') was done by hand : the woman sitting down
while at work, and using a pair of cards, much the
CHAP. XXII.] TKADES CONNECTED WITH CLOTHING. 463
same as those in use for hand-carding now. The
second carding turned out the wool in the form of
soft little loes, locks or rolls (to, ' a lock of wool ') fit for
spinning, just as wool-carders do at the present day.
Spinning. — In those times spinning was done, in
Ireland as elsewhere, by the distaff and spindle ; for
the spinning-wheel was not invented till the fifteenth
or sixteenth century. The wool or flax in prepara-
tion for spinning was wound and fastened loosely on
a rock or distaff called in Irish cuigeal [quiggail].
From the distaff the material was drawn off gradually,
with the help of the left hand, by the spindle or
spinning-stick, which was held in the right hand
and manipulated dexterously so as to twist the mate-
rial into thread, and wind it on the spindle according
as spun. The abras or thread ready for weaving was
rolled up in balls, on which it was wound from the
spindles according as these got filled.
Weaving. — The thread was woven into cloth in
a hand-loom, nearly always by women : and like the
rest of the cloth-making process, it was a cottage
industry. The complete weaving machinery or loom
had two beams : the larger one called garmain (and
sometimes gae-mathri), and the other lu-garmain or
'smaller beam' (lu, 'small'). The principal beam
must have been large : for we find the massive spear
of a hero sometimes compared — in Irish tales — to a
weaver's beam, like that of Goliath. What were
called the "swords" (claidini), or weaving-rods,
were long laths used during the process of weaving,
which were nearly or altogether as long as the beam.
The warp was called dluth [dluh] : and the weft or
woof innech. While the woman was weaving she
464
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE.
PART III.
used a feith-geir [feh-gair], " which put a smooth
face upon her weaving": and which is represented
by the sleeking-stick or " rubbing-bone " still used
by hand-weavers.
The piece of woven
cloth had usually a bor-
der or fringe (corrthar :
pron. curher), which was
sometimes woven with
the whole piece and
formed part of it : and
sometimes separately,
and afterwards sewed
Fig. 187. on. In this last case it
was woven with a short
light claidem or lath,
altogether apart from
the loom, something like
the crochet or netting
or meshing work of
modern times : and
weaving ornamental
borders or long scarfs
in this manner was
practised by ladies of
the higher ranks as they
practised embroidery.
Fulling. — A fuller of cloth was called ciomihaire
[keervara], literally a comber (from dor, a comb) ; or
fucaire [fookera], oxiicaire, from fiicad or iicad [fooka,
ooka], ' to full,' and there were persons who practised
this as a distinct trade. When the fuller was ready
to begin, he sent out his man to blow a horn at the
Fig. 1S8.
Portions of antique woollen clothing-
found on the body of a woman. (From
Proc. Roy. Ir. Academy.;
CHAP. XXII.] TRADES CONNECTED WITH CLOTHING. 465
door, as a signal for the people to bring in their
cloth. The custom of tradesmen blowing a horn for
such purposes continued to a period almost within
our own memory.
2. Flax and its Preparation,
The preparation of flax is described in old Irish
authorities, especially in the Brehon Law, though not
in such detail as that of wool. One of the names
of this plant is still preserved in a great number
of the European languages, the forms slightly vary-
ing, but all derived from the root lin. The Greek
word is linon ; Latin, linum; English, linen; A. -Sax.,
Un ; Buss., lend ; &c. This shows that it was culti-
vated by the western Aryan people since before the
time of their separation into the various nationalities
of Europe.
The Celtic tribes who first set foot on our shores,
brought a knowledge of the plant and its cultivation
with them ; and corresponding to all the names
given above, is the Irish lin [leen], which is still the
word in universal use for flax. Besides the evidence
of philology, our own records show that linen was
manufactured in Ireland from the earliest historic
times. It was a very common article of dress, and
was worked up and dyed in a great variety of forms
and colours, and exported besides in large quantities
to foreign nations. So that the manufacture for
which Ulster is famous at the present day, is merely
an energetic development of an industry whose
history is lost in the twilight of antiquity.
The flax, after pulling, was tied up in sheaves and
dried, after which it was put through various stages
2h
466 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PAET fit.
of preparation like those of the present day. After
spinning, the thread was finally wound in balls ready
for weaving.
3. Dyeing.
Dyestuffs and dyeing in general.— The beau-
tiful illumination of the Book of Kelts, the Book of
Mac Durnan, and numerous other old manuscripts,
proves that the anci-ent Irish were very skilful in
colours : and it will be shown here that the art of
dyeing was well understood. The dyestuffs were not
imported : they were all produced at home ; and
were considered of great importance.
The people understood how to produce various
shades by the mixture of different colours, and were
acquainted with the use of mordants for fixing them.
One of these mordants, alum, is a native product,
and was probably known in very early times. Dye-
ing was what we now call a cottage industry, i.e. the
work was always carried on in the house : as I saw
it carried on in the homes of Minister more than
half a century ago. In the cultivation of the dye-
plant, men might take a part : but the rest of the
process was considered the special work of women,
so that men seldom assisted. Even the presence of
men or boys looking on at the work was considered
unlucky. Cloth was dyed in the piece, the wool
being left of the natural colour till after weaving and
fulling. But woollen cloth was often worn without
being dyed at all — just with the shade it brought
from the back of the sheep.
Ground Colour. — There were two main stages in
the process of dyeing. The first was imparting a
CHAP. XXII.] TRADES CONNECTED WITH CLOTHING. 467
ground or foundation colour of reddish brown, which
was done by steeping and boiling the cloth with the
twigs of the ruam or alder. This was what the
people called riming, from " ruam." After this the
cloth was ready for the second stage — imparting the
final colour : which was done by boiling it with the
special dyestuff.
Black. — The dyestuff for black was a sediment or
deposit of an intense black found at the bottom of
pools in bogs. It always contained more or less iron,
which helped in the dyeing. Boiled with this, the
cloth acquired a dull black colour : but if some twigs
or chips of oak were added, the colour produced was
a glossy jet black, very fixed and permanent.
Crimson. — A crimson or bright-red colour was
imparted by a plant anciently called rial or roid,
which required good land, and was cultivated in beds
like table-vegetables, requiring great care. There
were several stages of preparation ; but the final
dyestuff was a sort of meal or coarse flour of a
reddish colour.
Blue. — To dye the cloth blue, after it had been
rimed, it was boiled with a dyestuff obtained from
woad, called in Irish glaisin [glasheen]. This name
was also given to the prepared dyestuff, which was in
lumps or cakes. As in the case of roid, there were
several stages in the preparation of the final dyestuff.
Purple was called in Irish corcur. In one of the
pages of an ancient manuscript now in Turin, is a
passage written by an Irish hand in the beginning of
the ninth century, which proves that at that early
time the Irish were acquainted with the art of dyeing
purple by means of a lichen. The knowledge of
2h2
468 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
dyeing from rock lichen was never lost, but was con-
tinued from generation to generation down to recent
times ; and early in the last century considerable
quantities of the lichen dyestuff in the form of balls
were sold in the markets of Dingle in Kerry.
The ancient Irish obtained a beautiful purple from
small shellfish like cockles ; and in some places whole
heaps of shells have recently been found, all broken
uniformly at one particular point — just the point
inside which was situated the elongated little sac con-
taining the purple colouring matter : evidently with
the object of extracting the precious little globule.
This method of obtaining purple dye continued to be
practised in the eastern Irish counties, as well as on
the opposite coast of Wales, down to the beginning
of the last century. The art continued in Wales, as
well as in Ireland, from the earliest times : for the
Venerable Bede records that in his day (the eighth
century) the Britons (or Welsh) produced a most
beautiful purple colour from shellfish. The celebrated
Tyrian purple was produced in a similar way.
The purple dyestufT, however obtained, was pro-
duced in very small quantities, so that it was
extremely scarce; and the colour was excessively
expensive in Ireland as elsewhere : on the Continent
in old times it was worth thirty or forty times its
weight in gold. Partly for this reason, and partly
for its beauty, purple was a favourite with kings and
great chiefs, so that writers often designate it a royal
or imperial colour.
Saffron. — Until recent times linen was dyed
saffron with the crock or saffron plant (Lat. crocus),
which was the simplest of all the dyeing operations.
CHAP. XXII.] TRADES CONNECTED WITH CLOTHING. 469
Popular Knowledge of Dyeing. — The Irish
peasantry of the present day, as well as the High-
land Scotch, possess considerable knowledge of the
stuffs — chiefly obtained from herbs — used in impart-
ing various colours, and are skilled in simple dyeing :
knowledge and skill that have descended to them from
old times.
4. Sewing ancV Embroider >j.
Needle and Thread. — The thread used for sewing
was generally of wool. In primitive ages fine fila-
ments of gut were often used. The sewing-thread
Fig. 189.
Two bronze Needles, natural size : in National Museum, Dublin.
(From "Wilde's Catalogue.)
was kept in the form of a clew, or ball, like that for
weaving : and women sewed with a needle furnished
with a era or eye as at present. From an early time
needles were made of steel, but in primitive ages of
bronze. In those days a steel or bronze needle was
difficult to make ; so that needles were very expen-
sive. For instance, the price of an embroidering
needle was an ounce of silver. The word for a needle
was mdtliat [snawhat], which is still used. Bronze
needles are now often found, which, judging from
both material and shape, must be of great antiquity.
Dressmaking. — Needlework was most commonly
practised in ordinary dressmaking. The old Irish
dressmakers were accomplished workers. The sewing
470 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
on ancient articles of dress found from time to
time is generally very neat and uniform, like that
on the fur cape mentioned at p. 383, supra, which
Mr. Mac Adam describes as " wonderfully beautiful
and regular."
Embroidery was also practised as a separate art
or trade by women. An embroiderer kept for her
work, among other materials, thread of various
colours, as well as silver thread, and a special needle.
The design or pattern to be embroidered — as we find
recorded and described in the Senchus M6r — was
drawn and stamped beforehand, by a designer, on a
piece of leather, which the embroiderer placed lying
before her and imitated with her needle. This curious
and interesting record indicates the refinement and
carefulness of the old Irish embroiderers. The art of
stamping designs on leather, for other purposes as
well as for embroidery, was carried to great perfection,
as we know from the beautiful specimens of book-
covers preserved in our museums (see pp. 10, 239).
It was usual for the most eminent of the Irish
saints to have one or more embroiderers in their
households, whose chief employment was the making
and ornamentation of church robes and vestments.
St. Patrick kept three constantly at work. Embroidery
was practised in Ireland in pre-Christian times, and
was a well-recognised art from the earliest period of
legend. We know from many ancient authorities
that Irish ladies of the highest rank practised needle-
work and embroidery as an accomplishment and
recreation. For this purpose they spun ornamental
thread, which, as well as needles, they constantly
carried about in a little ornamental bag.
CHAP. XXIT.] TRADES CONNECTED WITH CLOTHING-. 47l
5. Tanning and tanned Leather.
The art of tanning leather was well understood in
ancient Ireland. The name for a tanner was sudaire
[soodera], which is still a living word. Oak bark
was employed, and in connexion with this use was
called coirtech [curtagh : Lat. cortex^, as we find the
word used in the Laws. By the process of tanning,
the hide was thickened and hardened, as at present.
Tanned leather was used for various purposes, one of
the principal being as material for shoes ; but we
know that shoes were also made of untanned hide
(see p. 396, supra). Curraghs or wicker-boats were
often covered with leather (see chap, xxiv., sect. 4).
A jacket of hard, tough, tanned leather was some-
times worn in battle as a protecting corselet. Bags
made of leather, and often of undressed skins, were
pretty generally used to hold liquids. There was a
sort of leather wallet or bag called a crioll, used like a
modern travelling-bag, to hold clothes and other soft
articles.
The parts of every article made of leather were
joined together by stitching with thongs. Those
tradesmen in leather-work who stitched with thongs,
namely, the leather-bottle maker, the shoemaker, and
the leather-wallet maker, worked with a pair of thongs,
forming a stitch with each alternately, the workman,
while using the free end of one, holding the end of
the other between his teeth : exactly like the ancient
Egyptian shoemakers as they are depicted in stone
and brick records.
Ornament on leather case of Book of Armagh. (From Petrie's Round Towers.)
CHAPTER XXIII.
MEASURES, WEIGHTS, AND MEDIUMS OF EXCHANGE.
Section 1. Length and Area.
i ike other ancient peoples, the Irish fixed
their standards of length - measures,
for want of better, mostly, but not
exclusively, with reference to parts of
the human body. The troigid [tro-id]
or foot was the length of a man's foot,
which was counted equal to twelve ordlachs — thumb-
measures or inches : so that this troigid was practically
the same as the present English foot.
The following table of long measures, which is
given in the Book of Aicill, may be taken as the one
in most general use. The grain, i.e. the length of
a grain of wheat of average size, was the smallest
measure used by the Irish : —
3 grains,
4 inches,
3 palms,
12 feet, ....
12 rods or fertaclts,
12 forrachs in length by \
6 forrachs in width J
1 ordlach or inch.
1 bas, palm, or hand.
1 troighid or foot.
1 fertach or rod.
1 forrach.
1 tir-cumaile (i.e.
'^wmMand'),
CHAP, XXIII.] MEASURES AND WEIGHTS. 473
According to this table a tir-curuaile contained
about 34 English acres ; and it was so called because
it was considered sufficient to graze a cumal, i.e. three
cows.
When English ideas and practices began to obtain
a footing in Ireland, after the Anglo-Norman Inva-
sion, various other measures of land were adopted,
the most general of which was the acre. Land was
commonly estimated in acres and ploughlands accord-
ing to the following table : —
120 acres, . . 1 seisrech [sheshera] or ploughland.
12 ploughlands, . 1 baile, bally, or townland.
30 bailes, . . 1 tuath or tricha.
Various other length-measures were in use. A
ct'im [kaim] or step was 2| feet. For small measures
the has [boss] and the dorn [durn] were in constant
use. The bus or ' palm ' was the width of the hand
at the roots of the fingers, which was fixed at 4
inches. The dorn or 'fist,' with the thumb closed
in, was 5 inches : with the thumb extended, 6 inches.
Lengths and distances were often roughly indi-
cated by sound. For example, in connexion with
the law of distress, certain distances, called in the
Senchus Mor "magh-spaces," were made use of;
and the old commentator defines a magh-space to be
" as far as the sound of the bell [i.e. the small hand-
bell of those times] or the crow of the barn-door
cock could be heard." The crow of a cock and the
sound of a bell, as distance-measures, are very often
met with ; and the ancient Germans also used them.
Other vague modes of estimating lengths were used.
The legal size of the faithche [faha] or green round a
474 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
house depended on the rank of the owner ; and the
unit of measure was the distance a man could cast a
spear standing at the house.
2. Capacity.
The standard unit of capacity adopted by the Irish
was the full of a hen-eggshell of moderate size, which
perhaps was as good a standard as could be found at
the time. Beginning with this there is a regular
table of measures of capacity. Twelve eggshellfuls
made a meisrin [messhereen], which contained about
as much as our present pint.
3. Weight.
The smallest weight used was a grain of the best
wheat. The following is the table of weight founded
on the average grain of wheat : —
8 grains,
I pinginn or penny of silver.
3 pinginns,
1 screpall.
24 screpalls,
1 unga or ounce.
The ung,\ or ounce (576 grains of wheat or about
432 grains Troy) was the standard used in weighing
metals. The word seems to have been borrowed
from the Latin uncia : but there was an older native
word, mann, for the ounce.
From numerous references in the old writings, we
learn that the ancient Irish had balances of different
kinds and sizes, and with different names. The most
usual Irish term for a balance in general, and also
for the beam of a balance, wras meadh [ma], which is
CHAP. XXIII.] MEASURES AND WEIGHTS. 475
the word in use at the present day. A puincern
[punkern : meaning < notched beam '] was a sort
of steelyard, i.e. a balance having a single weight
movable along a graduated beam from notch to notch,
which by its distance from the suspension point
indicated the weight of the commodity — identical
with our modern steelyard. As bearing upon this
point, it is well to observe that an old steelyard of
bronze was found in 1864 in a rath near Bally-
shannon in Donegal, ornamented and carefully
Fig. 190.
Ancient Irish Steelyard. (From Kilk. Archaeol. Joum.)
graduated : the material — bronze — indicating great
antiquity. But the Irish had also a two- dish balance
like those in use at the present day, of which bronze
specimens have been found in the earth.
4. Standards of Value and Mediums of Exchange.
In early stages of society in Ireland, as in all other
countries, buying and selling and other commercial
transactions were carried on by means of payment in
kind : and there is hardly any description of valuable
articles that was not used for this purpose. Pay-
ments were made for purchases, tribute, fines, &c,
in cows, sacks of corn, salted pigs, butter, mantles,
476
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III,
and soforth : the parties determining the values
according to the customs of the place. But mixed
up with this barter in kind, gold and silver, told
out by weight, and — after the middle of the eighth
century — silver coins, were used as mediums of
exchange.
That the Irish were acquainted with the use of
coined money, at least as early as the eighth century,
is proved by the records : but whether they coined
money for themselves before the tenth century is a
Fig. 191.
Fig. iq2.
Irish bracteate Coins: now in National Museum, Dublin.
(From Petrie"s Round Towers.)
matter that has not been determined. The coins in
circulation among the Irish were the pinginn and the
screpall [skreppal], both of silver. The pinginn
weighed 8 grains of wheat, equal to 6 grains Troy :
the screpall was equal to 3 pinginns, i.e. 18 grains
Troy.
Many specimens of the pinginn and of the screpall
are preserved in the National Museum. The pin-
ginns are what are called " bracteate " coins, i.e.
struck only on one side ; but the screpalls are
impressed on both sides.
From the very beginning of our records gold and
silver were used as a medium of exchange, sometimes
CHAP. XXIII.] MEASURES AND WEIGHTS. 477
as ingots, but more commonly in the form of rings,
bracelets, and other ornaments. They were weighed
by the ounce, which, as we have seen, was equal in
weight to 576 grains of wheat, or to 432 grains Troy.
In order to facilitate interchange of this kind, gold
and silver rings of various forms, as well as other
gold and silver ornaments, were generally or always
made of definite weights. Notices of this custom
are found everywhere in Irish literature. So also
Caesar records that in his time the people of Britain
" used brass or iron rings fixed at a certain weight as
their money." But in Ireland, gold,
as being comparatively abundant, was
used instead of the inferior metals.
The custom of making gold ornaments
after a fixed weight seems to have been fig. 193.
general among all civilised nations of coid *«««* or
Ring, full size: open,
antiquity. but without the do-
It may be considered certain that N^winthe^ationai
in Ireland the open gold rings called ,Iv1Il1,1sei'm-,11 r"''
*■ ° ° Wildes Catalogue.)
bunne-do-at (now often called fibula :
articles, were used as money. But besides those
see p. 412, supra) as well as other gold ornamental
called bunne-do-at, there are in the National Museum
a great number — fifty or more — of very small open
gold rings, from J to f inch in diameter, without
the terminal knobs or ats : these are bunnes simply,
not bunne-do-ats. From their great numbers, and
from their simple, unornamental construction, they
have all the appearance of having been used mainly
as currency.
A full-grown cow, or ox, was in ancient times a
very general standard of value, not only in Ireland,
478 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
but all over the civilised world : and was considered
equal in value to one ounce of gold. In this use— as
an article of payment — a cow was in Ireland
generally called a ski [shade]. Cows or seds were
very often used both in actual payments and in
estimating amounts. Next above the sed was the
cumal, which was originally applied to a bondmaid :
but the word came to be used very generally to
signify the value of a bondmaid, which was counted
as three seds, or cows.
A miach or sack of corn — generally of oats or
barley — which for convenience sake must have been
always made of uniform size — was very often used as
a standard of value : it is indeed adopted in the
Brehon Law as the almost universal standard in
estimating fines for trespass, and payments for
grazing.
5. Time.
The Irish divided their year into quarters. The
four quarters were called Earrach [arragh], Spring ;
Samhradh [sowra], Summer ; Foglimhar [fowar],
Autumn; Geimhridh [gevre], Winter: and they
began on the first days of February, May, August,
and November, respectively. We have historical
testimony that festivals with games — which will be
described in chapter xxv. — were celebrated at the
beginning of Summer, Autumn, and Winter; but
we have no account of any such celebrations at the
beginning of Spring. These divisions of the year
and the festivities by which they were ushered in
originated with the Pagan Irish, and were continued
into Christian times.
CHAP. XXIII.] MEASURES AND WEIGHTS. 4? 9
The 1st February, the beginning of Spring, was
called Oimelc, signifying ' ewe-milk,' " for that is
the time the sheep's milk comes " : but this day
is now universally known among Irish speakers as
Feil Bhrighde [Fail Vreeda], ' St. Brigit's festival,'
the old Pagan name Oimelc, being obsolete for
centuries.
The first day of May was the beginning of Summer.
It was called Belltaine or Beltene [beltma], which is
the name for the 1st May still always used by
speakers of Irish ; and it is well known in Scotland,
where Beltane has quite taken its place as an
English word : —
" Ours is no sapling, chance sown by the fountain,
Blooming at Beltane, in winter to fade."
Lady of the Lake.
The 1st of August, the beginning of Autumn,
was, and is still, called Lugnasad [Loonasa], from
the nasa or games instituted by the Dedannan
king Lug [Loo] of the Long Arms, which were
celebrated at Tailltenn yearly on that day.
Samain or Samhuin [sowin], the first of November,
was the first day of Winter. This name is still used
even among the English-speaking people in Scotland
and the north of Ireland, in the form of sowin or
soivins, which is the name of a sort of flummery
usually made about the 1st November.
The ancient Irish counted time rather by nights
than by days. Thus in the Life of St. Fechin we
are told : — " Moses was forty nights on Mount Sinai
without drink, without food." In coupling together
480 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
day and night they always put the night first : in
other words, the night belonging to any particular
day was the night preceding; so that what they
called Sunday night was the same as Saturday night
with us.
CHAPTER XXIV.
LOCOMOTION AND COMMERCE.
Section 1. Roads, Bridges, and Causeways.
oads. — That the country was well provided
with roads we know, partly from our
ancient literature, and partly from the
general use of chariots. They were not
indeed anything like our present hard,
smooth roads, but constructed according to the
knowledge and needs of the period, sometimes laid
with wood and stone, sometimes not, but always
open and level enough for car and horse traffic.
There were five main roads leadiug from Tara
through the country in different directions : and
numerous roads — all with distinct names — are men-
tioned in the annals. Many of the old roads are
still traceable : and some are in use at the present
day, but so improved to meet modern requirements
as to efface all marks of antiquity.
The ancient Irish classified their roads in regard
to size and use into seven kinds, which are named
CHAP. XXIV.] LOCOMOTION AND COMMERCE. 481
and partly described in an interesting passage in
Cormac's Glossary, where he gives the names of the
whole seven ; but here it will be sufficient to give the
terms in most general use. Conair and cat [kee] are
used for a road of any kind. Slighe [slee] is a main
high road. Bothar [boher] is now the most usual
term for a road ; and the diminutive holier een or
boreen, representing the sound of the Irish boithrin,
is a familiar Anglo-Irish word for a little road or
country lane. The word bealach [ballagh] means a
pass, commonly with a road or path through it.
The five main roads leading from Tara are mentioned
in our oldest authorities, as, for instance, in the story
of Bruden Da Derga in the Book of the Dun Cow.
They were all called slige. 1. Slige Asail [slee-assil]
ran from Tara due west towards Lough Owel in
Westmeath, and thence probably in a north-westerly
direction. 2. Slige Midluachra [meelooghra] extended
northwards towards Slane on the Boyne, through the
Moyry Pass north of Dundalk, and round the base of
Slieve Fuaid, near the present Newtown-Hamilton in
Armagh, to the palace of Emain, and on to Dun-
severick on the north coast of Antrim : portions of the
present northern highway run along its site. 8. Slige
Cualann ran south-east through Dublin, across the
Liffey by the hurdle-bridge that gave the city the
ancient name of Baile-atha-cUath (the town of the
hurdle-ford: now pron. Blaa-clee) : crossed the Dodder
near Donnybrook : then southwards still through the
old district of Cualann, which it first entered a little
north of Dublin, and from which it took its name (the
slige or road of Cualann), and on by Bray, keeping
generally near the coast. Fifty years ago a part of
2i
482 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
this road was plainly traceable between Dublin and
Bray. 4. Slige Dala, the south-western road, running
from Tara towards and through Ossory in the present
Co. Kilkenny. This old name is still. applied to the
road from Kells to Carrick-on-Suir by Windgap.
5. Slige Mor (' great highway ') led south-west from
Tara till it joined the Esker-Riada* near Clonard,
along which it mostly continued till it reached
Galway. Portions of this road along the old Esker
which raised it high and dry over the bogs are still
in use, being traversed by the present main high-
way.
Besides these five great highways, which are con-
constantly referred to, the Annals and other old
documents notice numerous individual roads. In
the Four Masters we find thirty- seven ancient roads
mentioned with the general name bealach [ballagh],
nearly all with descriptive epithets, like Ballaghmoon
near Carlo w.
In old times the roads seem to have been very well
looked after : and the regulations for making and
cleaning them, and keeping them in repair, are set
forth with much detail in the Brehon Laws.
Bridges. — The place chosen for the erection of a
bridge was very usually where the river had already
* Esker-Riada, a long, natural, wavy ridge formed of gravel,
running almost across the whole country from Dublin to Galway.
It was much celebrated in old times, and divided Ireland into
two equal parts, Letb-Conn (' Conn's half) on the north, and
Leth-Mow (' Mow's half ') on the south. It may be seen
marked on the map, running through squares 33, 34, 35, 36.
For the origin of the names Leth-Conn and Leth-Mow, see my
Short History of Ireland to 1608, page 131.
CHAP. XXIV.] LOCOMOTION AND COMMERCE. 483
been crossed by a ford ; for, besides the convenience
of retaining the previously existing roads, the point
most easily fordable was in general most suitable for
a bridge. There is no evidence to show that the Irish
built stone bridges before the Anglo-Norman invasion.
Bridges were very often built of planks laid across the
stream from bank to bank if it was narrow enough,
or supported on rests of natural rock or on artificial
piers if the river was wide : a kind of bridge occa-
sionally used at the present day. Sometimes bridges
were constructed of strong hurdles supported on piles ;
like that across the Liffey which gave Dublin its old
name. These timber bridges of the several kinds
were extremely common, and they are frequently
mentioned in old authorities.
Causeways. — In early ages, before the extension
of cultivation and drainage, the roads through the
country were often interrupted by bogs and morasses,
which were made passable by causeways. They
were variously constructed: but the materials were
generally branches of trees, bushes, earth, and stones,
placed in layers, and trampled down till they were
sufficiently firm ; and they were called by the Irish
name of tdchar, now usually anglicised toghcr. These
toghers were very common all over the country ; our
Annals record the construction of many in early ages,
and some of these are still traceable.
2. Chariots and Cars.
Our literature affords unquestionable evidence that
chariots were used in Ireland from the most remote
ages, both in private life and in war. They are
2i2
484 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
mentioned constantly, as quite common and familiar,
in the ancient records, both legendary and historical,
as well as in the Br eh on Laws, where many regula-
tions are set forth regarding them. The usual Irish
word for a chariot is carbad, but there were some
other terms.
In the old romances there are several descriptions
of Cuculainn's chariot, as well as of those belonging
to other chiefs ; and in these, and many other autho-
rities, details are given, from all which we can obtain
a good general idea of the construction of the vehicle.
The body (Irish cret) was made of wickerwork, sup-
ported by an outer frame of strong wooden bars ;
and it was frequently ornamented with tin, a practice
which also prevailed among the Gauls. The ordi-
nary one- or two- horse chariot had two shafts,
which were made of hard wood. In a two-horse
chariot there was a pole between the two horses. A
one-horse chariot had two shafts but no pole. A
two- wheeled chariot, whether with one or two horses,
was in very general use. The wheels were spoked
and were from three to four and a half feet high, as
we see by several delineations of chariots on the high
crosses (p. 486, below). They were shod all round,
generally with iron. This corresponds with what
we know of the ancient British chariots, of which
some specimens have lately been found in burial-
mounds, with iron rims on the wheels. Some
chariots had four wheels ; and we know that four-
wheeled chariots were also in use among the Gauls.
The axle was fixed immovable in the vehicle, and the
wheels revolved on it, and were kept in their place
by linch-pins.
CHAP. XXIV.] LOCOMOTION AND COMMERCE. 485
There was often an awning or hood overhead,
commonly of cloth, dyed in some bright colour ; but
in elaborate chariots, the awning was occasionally
covered with the plumage of birds, as ladies some-
times roofed their greenans. Kings, queens, and
chieftains of high rank rode in chariots, luxuriously
fitted up and ornamented with gold, silver, and
feathers. But with all this, the Irish chariot, like
those of the Romans and other nations, was a rough
springless machine, and made a great deal of noise.
They evidently took pride in the noise : and the more
distinguished the person riding in a chariot, the
greater was supposed to be the creaking and rattle,
as is often boastfully remarked by the old Irish
writers, "a chariot under a king " being the noisiest
of all. A good chariot was worth about twelve cows,
representing £150 or £160 of our money. But royal
chariots were worth as much as eighty or ninety
cows. With rare exceptions, only two persons rode
in a chariot, whether in battle or in everyday life :
viz. the master (or mistress) and the driver or
charioteer : a custom which prevailed also among
the Gauls. The two generally sat side by side,
the charioteer being on the right. The usual word
to designate the principal person in the chariot, the
warrior or master, or chariot-chief, was err : the
charioteer or driver was called ara.
On several of the high crosses chariots are carved,
as, for instance, on those of Clonmacnoise, Tuam, and
Monasterboice. The chariots represented on next
page, from one of the Clonmacnoise crosses, have each
only one horse and one pair of wheels : but two-horse
chariots were more usual, and seem to have been a
486 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PAKT III.
common vehicle for travelling. The chariot ordinarily
used in battle had two wheels and two horses ; but
four horses were sometimes used. Chariots were
generally drawn by horses, especially those of chiefs
and military men. But ordinary persons, and non-
military people in general, often employed oxen :
St. Patrick's chariot was drawn by two oxen. Besides
Fig. 194.
Ancient Irish Chariots on base of Cross of Clonmacnoise : ninth century.
(From Wood-Martin's Pagan Ireland.)
the chariots hitherto mentioned, both for travelling
and for fighting, there was a special war-chariot
furnished with scythes and spikes, like those of the
Gauls and ancient Britons, which is repeatedly men-
tioned in the Tales. Farmers and people in general
used rough carts, commonly called carr, for work of
various kinds, and drawn by oxen, but they are
hardly noticed in the ancient literature. They had
probably solid wheels — such as we know the people
used in later times — spoked wheels being expensive.
CHAP. XXIV.] LOCOMOTION AND COMMERCE. 487
3. Horse-Biding.
Horses, were put to the same uses as at present : —
riding, drawing chariots, racing ; and more rarely
ploughing, drawing carts, and as pack-animals : all
which uses are mentioned in our old literature. The
horse is known by various names. Ech signifies any
horse of a superior kind : cognate with Latin equxis,
and Greek hippos. Marc, another word for horse,
is explained ' a steed or mare ': hence the common
word marcach, * a horseman.' Capall, meaning a horse
of any kind— a term existing in varied forms in
several European languages — is the word now used
among Irish-speakers. Gearrdn, a hack-horse, in the
modern form garron, is in general use at the present
day in Ireland among speakers of English to denote
a heavily- worked half -broken-down old horse.
From many passages in the Brehon Laws and
other old writings it appears that horses were often
imported, and that those from Wales and France
were specially prized. In the fourteenth, fifteenth,
and sixteenth centuries, those Irish horses called
hobbies were known all over Europe "and held in
great esteem for their easy amble : . . . from this
kind of horse the Irish light-armed bodies of horse
were called hobellers " (Ware).
Giraldus Cambrensis tells us that in his time the
Irish used no saddles in riding. Two hundred years
later, Mac Murrogh Kavanagh, king of Leinster, had
a splendid horse that cost him 400 cows, which he
rode with wonderful swiftness without saddle down a
hill to meet the Earl of Gloucester ; and the custom
488 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
must have been very general at a still later time, for
laws were made to compel the Irish and Anglo-Irish
to ride like the English — with saddles. Yet this
custom prevailed among the English themselves in
early times, as well as among the ancient Britons,
Gauls, and Romans. But from the earliest times
the higher classes of the Irish used a thick cloth
called dillat, between them and the horse ; which
occasionally covered the whole animal, as in fig. 195.
Fig. 195.
Grotesque representation of a horseman given in the Book of Kells.
Man's cap yellow ; cloak green, with bright red and yellow border ;
breeches green ; leg clothed ; foot naked. Dillat yellow. (From
Wilde's Catalogue.)
This cloth covering gradually developed into a regular
saddle, and the name was retained in the modern
form dialluid [deelid], which is now the general Irish
name for a saddle.
Two kinds of bridle having two different names
were in use. The single-rein bridle, called srian
[sreean] was used in horse-riding. This rein was
attached to a nose-band, not at the side, but at the
top, and came to the hand of the rider over the
animal's forehead, passing right between the eyes
CHAP. XXIV.] LOCOMOTION AND COMMERCE.
489
and ears, and being held in its place by a loop or
ring in the face-band which ran across the horse's
forehead and formed part of the bridle-gear. This
single rein was used to restrain merely : it could not
be used to guide, which as we shall presently see, was
done by a horse-rod. The two-rein bridle, called all
ovfall, was used with chariot-horses. The charioteer,
who sat too far from the horse's head to guide by
a horse-rod, had to use double reins, both to guide
and to restrain, like those
of the present day. The
distinction between these
two kinds of bridle —
single-rein and two-rein —
is clearly set forth in the
law, and is always observed
in the Tales.
The bridle was often
elaborately and expensively
ornamented. Among the
royal tributes of the Book
of Rights are "fifty steeds with costly bridles";
and in the old literature we find very often mentioned
bridles mounted and adorned with gold, silver, and
cruan or red enamel. Accordingly, special provisions
were laid down in the Brehon Law for compensation
to the owner of a bridle in case a borrower did not
restore it ; from five or six cows up to eighteen or
twenty. In corroboration of all these accounts,
portions of antique bridles and headstalls have been
found from time to time, with enamelled ornamen-
tation of beautiful workmanship, some of them now
preserved in the National Museum.
Fig. 196.
Grotesque representation of horse-
man, using horse-rod, given in Book
of Kells. (From Wilde's Catalogue.)
490 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
The ancient Irish did not use spurs, but urged on
and guided their horses with a rod having a hooked
goad at the end, of which we find frequent mention
in all sorts of Irish records. Horseriders often used
a sraigell or whip. Horsemen rode without stirrups :
and every man was trained to spring from the ground
by an ech-leim or ' steed-leap ' on to the back of his
horse. This ready method of mounting continued
to the beginning of the seventeenth century in both
Ireland and Scotland : —
" No foot Fitz- James in stirrup staid,
No grasp upon the saddle laid,
But wreathed his left hand in the mane,
And lightly bounded from the plain."
Lady of the Lake.
It was considered necessary that every young man
belonging to the upper classes should be taught horse-
riding : and so important was this that even the
Brehon Law interfered, just as the law of our day
requires children to learn reading.
That the ancient Irish protected the horse's hoofs
by a shoe of some kind is plainly shown by the records.
This shoe is called cm in the oldest Irish documents :
the term is given with this meaning in modern
dictionaries, and cru is still the living word for a
horseshoe, not only in Irish, but in Scotch Gaelic
and Manx. In old times in Ireland, horse-riding as
a mode of locomotion in ordinary life was not very
general. But nobles commonly rode, and were very
proud of their steeds and trappings. Horses were
also kept and carefully trained for sporting purposes,
CHAP. XXIV.] LOCOMOTION AND COMMERCE. 4&1
chiefly racing, which, as we shall see in next chapter,
was a favourite amusement.
The ass hardly figures at all in ancient Irish
literature, so that it cannot have been much used.
4. Communication by Water.
The boats used by the ancient Irish may be
roughly classified as of three kinds : — canoes hol-
lowed out from the trunks of trees ; curraghs or
wicker-boats ; and ordinary vessels — ships or boats
— propelled by sails, or oars, or both combined, as
occasion required.
The single-piece canoes were very common,
especially in connexion with crannoges, where they
were used to communicate with shore. Many of
these have in late times been found in bogs at the
bottom of dried-up lakes and near old crannoges,
varying in length from 50 or 60 feet down to six or
eight : and numbers of them may be seen in the
National Museum in Dublin.
The curragh (Irish form curach, connected with
Latin corium, ' a hide ') was the best-known of all
the Irish boats. It was made of a wicker-work
frame, covered with hides which were stitched
together with thongs. Some curraghs had a double
hide-covering, some a triple. These boats are con-
stantly mentioned in lay as well as in ecclesiastical
literature, and also by Continental writers, the
earliest of whom is Solinus in the third century.
They are used still round the coasts, but tarred
canvas is employed instead of skins. They were
propelled by oars or sails according to circumstances.
4.92 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
Many curraghs were so small and light as to be
easily carried on a man's back from creek to creek
overland, as Giraldus says the Welsh were accus-
tomed to carry their wicker boats: and as people
sometimes do to this day in Ireland.
The mode of constructing curraghs has been
described by foreign as well as by Irish writers.
St. Brendan and his companions, in preparation for
their voyage on the Atlantic, " using iron tools
[saws, hammers, chisels, &c], prepared a very light
vessel, with wickerwork sides and ribs, after the
manner of that country, and covered it with cow-
hide, tanned in oak-bark, tarring its joints : and
they put on board provisions for forty days, with
butter enough to dress hides for covering the boat
[whenever the covering needed repair], and all
utensils necessary for the use of the crew." Cur-
raghs, when intended for long voyages, were made
large and strong, furnished with masts and solid
decks and seats, and having the hides tanned.
By far the greatest part of the water-communication
round the coasts and across the narrow seas, as well
as in the lakes and rivers, of Great Britain and Ire-
land, was carried on in those early days by curraghs,
which indeed were used also in other parts of Europe.
We know that in the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries
the Irish sent numerous plundering expeditions to
Britain, as mentioned at p. 33 et seq. These voyages
they made in curraghs : and Gildas pictures hordes
of them as landing from such vessels. Breccan,
grandson of Niall of the Nine Hostages, had a fleet
of fifty curraghs trading between Ireland and Scot-
land, till they were all swallowed up in the terrible
CHAP. XXIV.] LOCOMOTION AND COMMERCE. 493
whirlpool near Rathlin Island, which thenceforward
took the name of Coire-Bhreccain [corrie-vreckan],
Breccan's caldron or whirlpool.*
Many of the ordinary vessels used by the Irish in
foreign commerce must have been large ; otherwise
they could not have traded with Continental ports, as
we know they did (p. 495, below). In the Book of
Rights it is mentioned that part of the yearly tribute
from the king of Cashel to the king of Ireland con-
sisted of " ten ships with beds," as much as to say
they were large enough to contain sleeping-berths.
There were, and are, several names for a ship, but the
most general is long.
Ferry-boats were in common use in rivers ; and
they are often mentioned in the Brehon Laws as
subject to strict regulations. They were sometimes
owned by individuals, and were sometimes the common
property of the people living round the ferry. If a
church or monastery happened to be near a river
where there was no bridge or ford, the inmates kept a
little ferry-boat for their own convenience and for the
free use of travellers. Pleasure boating parties were
usual in those days as well as now : and young folk
were just as inclined to indulge in boisterous merri-
ment ; of which it would seem the Brehon Law was in
a way conscious ; for it prescribes compensation in
case the boat was injured during a pleasure excursion.
* This whirlpool, which is still well known, but now called
Slugnamara ('swallow of the sea'), lies between Eathlin and
the coast of Antrim. It was the original Corrievreckan ; but its
name was borrowed for the dangerous whirlpool between the
islands of Scarba and Jura, in Scotland, mentioned in The Lord
of the Isles. See Irish Names of Places, vol. 11., page 432.
494 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
5. Foreign Commerce.
Many passages referring to the communication of
Ireland with the outer world in ancient times will be
found scattered through this book ; but it will be con-
venient to collect here under one heading a few
special notices bearing on the point.
In the native Irish literature, as well as in the
writings of English, Anglo-Irish, and foreign authors,
there are many statements showing the intercourse
and trade of Ireland, both outwards and inwards,
with Britain and Continental countries. To begin
with early foreign testimony : — The island was
known to the Phoenicians, who probably visited it ;
and Greek writers mention it under the names Iernis
and Ierne, and as the Sacred Island inhabited by the
Hiberni. Ptolemy, writing in the second century,
who is known to have derived his information from
Phoenician authorities, has given a description of
Ireland much more accurate than that which he
has left us of Great Britain. And that the people
of Ireland carried on considerable trade with foreign
countries in those early ages we know from the
statement of Tacitus, that in his time — the end of the
first century — the harbours of Ireland were better
known to commercial nations than those of Britain.
The natural inference from these scattered but
pregnant notices is that the country had settled
institutions and a certain degree of civilisation —
with more or less foreign commerce— as early at
least as the beginning of the Christian era.
These accounts, and others from foreign sources
that might be cited, are fully confirmed by the
CHAP. XXIV.] LOCOMOTION AND COMMERCE. 495
native records. There are numerous passages in
Irish literature — in the Book of Eights, for instance
— in which are mentioned articles of luxury, dress,
gold and silver ornaments, swords, shields, slaves, &c,
imported from foreign lands. To pass over many
other records, we know that in the great triennial fair
of Carman there were three principal markets, one
of which was " a market of foreigners selling articles
of gold and silver," who sold " gold [ornaments] and
noble clothes " : so that the fame of this fair found
its way to the Continent and attracted foreign
merchants with their goods.
This commerce was not confined to the coasts. In
the " Life of St. Kieran " it is related that on a certain
occasion a cask of wine was brought by merchants
to Clonmacnoise from the land of the Franks.
The importation of wine is noticed also in the " Life
of St. Patrick," and seven centuries later by Giraldus
Cambrensis. The various articles mentioned here as
brought from foreign lands were imported to supple-
ment the home produce ; in which there was nothing
more remarkable than our present importation of
thousands of articles from foreign countries, all or
most of which are also produced at home. The
articles anciently imported were paid for in home
commodities — skins, wool and woollens, oatmeal, fish,
salted hogs, otter and squirrel skins, &c. This trade
increased as time went on. But in the seventeenth
century laws were made by the English and Anglo-
Irish parliaments to destroy Irish trade and com-
merce : a blow which at once reduced the country
to poverty, and from which it has never recovered.
(For these laws, see my Child's Hist, of Irel., c. lvi.)
Sculpture on Window : Cathedral Church, Glendalousrh : Beranger, 1779.
(From Petrie's Round Towers.)
CHAPTER XXV.
PUBLIC ASSEMBLIES, SPORTS, AND PASTIMES.
Section 1. The Great Conventions and Fairs.
urposes and Uses. — Public assemblies
of different kinds, held periodically,
for various purposes and with several
designations, formed a marked and
important feature of social life in
ancient Ireland.
Important affairs of various kinds, national
or local, were transacted at these meetings.
The laws were publicly promulgated or rehearsed to
make the people familiar with them. There were
councils or courts to consider divers local matters
— questions affecting the rights, privileges, and
customary usages of the people of the district or
province — acts of tyranny or infringement of rights
by powerful persons on their weaker neighbours —
disputes about property — the levying of fines — the
imposition of taxes for the construction or repair of
roads — the means of defence to meet a threatened
CHAP. XXV.] ASSEMBLIES, SPORTS, AND PASTIMES. 497
invasion, and soforth. These several functions were
discharged by persons specially qualified. In all the
fairs there were markets for the sale and purchase
of commodities, whether produced at home or
imported.
Most of the great meetings, by whatever name
known, had their origin in Funeral Games. Tara,
Tailltenn, Tlachtga, Uslmagh, Croghan, Emain
Macha, and other less prominent meeting-places,
are well known as ancient pagan cemeteries, in all
of which many illustrious semi-historical personages
were interred : and many sepulchral monuments
remain in them to this day. *
Some meetings were established and convened
chiefly for the transaction of serious business : but even
at these there were sports in abundance : in others
the main object was the celebration of games : but
advantage was taken of the occasions to discuss and
settle important affairs, as will be described farther
on. The word Fes or Feis [faish], which literally
means a feast or celebration, cognate with Latin
festum and English feast, was generally applied to
the three great meetings of Tara, Croghan, and
Emain. These were not meetings for the general
mass of the people, but conventions of delegates who
represented the kingdoms and sub-kingdoms, i.e. the
states in general of all Ireland, who sat and delibe-
rated under the presidency of the supreme monarch.
The Feis of Tara, according to the old tradition,
Was founded by Ollam Fodla [Ollav-Fola], who was
king of Ireland seven or eight centuries before the
Christian era. It was originally held, or intended to
be held, every third year, at Samain, 1st November.
2k
498 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE* [PART III.
The provincial kings, the minor kings and chiefs, and
the most distinguished representatives of the learned
professions — the ollaves of history, law, poetry,
medicine, &c. — attended. According to some autho-
rities it lasted for a week, i.e. Samain day with three
days before and three days after : but others say it
lasted for a month.
Each provincial king had a separate house for
himself and his retinue during the time ; and there
was one house for their queens, with private apart-
ments for each, with her attendant ladies. There
was still another house called Belta na bh-ftledh
[Railtha-na- villa] , the ' star of the poets,' for the
accommodation of the poets and ollaves of all the
professions, where also these learned men held their
sittings. Every day the king of Ireland feasted the
company in the great banqueting-hall — or, as it was
called, the Tech Midchuarta or 'mead-circling hall' —
which was large enough for a goodly company : for
even in its present ruined state it is 759 feet long by
46 feet wide. The results of the deliberations were
written by properly qualified ollaves in the national
record called the Saltair of Tara. The conventions
of Emain and Croghan were largely concerned with
industrial affairs, as already stated (p. 455).
The dal [dawl] was a meeting convened for some
special purpose commonly connected with the tribe or
district : a folkmote. A mordal (mor, 'great') was
a great, or chief, or very important assembly. This
last term is often applied to such assemblies as those
of Tara, Tailltenn, and Ushnagh.
The aenach or fair was an assembly of the people
of every grade without distinction : it was the most
CHAP. XXV.] ASSEMBLIES, SPOETS, AND PASTIMES. 499
common kind of large public meeting ; and its main
object was the celebration of games, athletic exercises,
sports, and pastimes of all kinds. The most important
of the Aenachs were those of Tailltenn, Tlachtga,
and Ushnagh. The Fair of Tailltenn, now Teltown
on the Black water, midway between Navan and Kells,
was attended by people from the whole of Ireland, as
well as from Scotland, and was the most celebrated
of all for its athletic games and sports : corresponding
closely with the Olympic, Isthmian, and other games
of Greece. It was held yearly on the 1st of August,
and on the days preceding and following. Marriages
formed a special feature of this fair. All this is
remembered in tradition to the present day : and the
people of the place point out the spot where the
marriages were performed, which they call " Marriage
Hollow." The remains of several immense forts are
still to be seen at Teltown, even larger than those at
Tara, though not in such good preservation.
The meetings at Tlachtga and Ushnagh, which
have already been mentioned, seem to have been
mainly pagan religious celebrations : but games,
buying and selling, and conferences on local affairs,
were carried on there as at the other assemblies.
One of the most noted of all the fairs was Aenach
Golmain on the Curragh of Kildare, which is noticed
at page 509, below, in connexion with races. The
memory of one important fair is preserved in the
name of Nenagh in Tipperary, in which the initial
iV is the Irish article an, ' the ' : N-enagh, ' the
fair.' So also Monasteranenagh in Limerick, the
'Monastery of the fair,' where a fair was held long
before the monastery was founded.
2k2
500 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. I'pART III.
2. The Fair of Carman.
The people of Leinster held a provincial aenach at
Carman, a place situated probably in South Kildare,
once every three years, which began on Diighnasad
[Loonasa], i.e. the 1st of August, and ended on the
Gth. Fortunately we have, in the Book of Leinster,
the Book of Bally mote, and ■ some other ancient
manuscripts, pretty full descriptions — chiefly poems
— of this particular aenach.
There was much formality in the arrangements.
While the chief men were sitting in council under
the king of Leinster, who presided over all, those
belonging to the several sub -kingdoms had special
places allotted to them in the council-house or en-
closure, which were jealously insisted on. Each day
but the last appears to have been given up to the
games of some particular tribe or class. One day was
set apart for the horse and chariot races of the
Ossorians : another was for roydamnas or princes
only ; and there were special games in which only
women contended. Some of the deliberative councils
were for men only, some for women only, and at
some others both men and women attended.
Conspicuous among the entertainments and art-
performances was the recitation of poems and
romantic tales of all the various kinds mentioned at
p. 231, supra, like the recitations of the Ehapsodists
among the Greeks. For all of these there were sure
to be special audiences who listened with delight to
the fascinating lore of old times. Music always
formed a prominent part of the amusements : and
CHAP. XXV.] ASSEMBLIES, SPORTS, AND PASTIMES. 501
among the musical instruments are mentioned emits
or harps ; timpans ; trumpets ; wide-mouthed horns ;
cuisig or pipes ; and there were plenty of harpers ;
pipers ; fiddlers. There is no mention of dancing
either in this or in any other ancient Irish record ;
and there is good reason to believe that the ancient
Irish never danced at all — in our sense of the word.
In another part of the fair the people gave them-
selves up to uproarious fun, crowded round showmen,
jugglers, and clowns with grotesque masks or painted
faces, making hideous distortions, all bellowing and
roaring out their rough jests to the laughing crowd.
There were also performers of horsemanship, who
delighted their audiences with feats of activity and
skill on horseback, such as we see in modern circuses.
Prizes were awarded to the best performers ; and
at the close of the proceedings the coveted trophy —
always a thing of value, generally a gold ring or some
other jewel — was publicly presented by some important
person, such as a king, a queen, or a chief.
Special portions of the fair-green were set apart
for another very important function — buying and
selling. We are told that there were " three
[principal] markets : viz. a market of food and
clothes : a market of live stock and of horses ; while
a third was railed off for the use of foreign merchants
with gold and silver articles and fine raiment to
sell." There was the " slope of the embroidering
women," who actually did their work in presence
of the spectators. A special space was assigned
for cooking, which must have been on an extensive
scale to feed such multitudes. On each day of the
fair there was a conference of the brehons, chiefs, and
502 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
leading men in general, to regulate the fiscal and other
local affairs of the province for that and the two
following years.
When the evening of the last day had come, and
all was ended, the men of the entire assembly stood
up, at a signal from the president, and made a great
clash with their spears, each man striking the handle
of the next man's spear with the handle of his own :
which was the signal for the crowds to disperse. It
always took two years to make the preparations for
the holding of this fair. After the introduction of
Christianity in the fifth century, the pagan customs
were discontinued, and Christian ceremonies were
introduced. Each day was ushered in with a
religious exercise, and on the next day after the
fair there was a grand ceremonial : but beyond this
there was little or no change.
The correspondence between these fairs and the
Greek celebrations for similar purposes will be
obvious to everyone : and it is worth observing that
the Carman festival bore a closer resemblance to
the Isthmian games, where there were contests in
poetry and music, than to those of Olympia, where
there were none.
3. General Regulations for Meetings.
The accounts that have come down to us show that
the ancient Irish were very careful that there should
be no quarrelling or fighting, or unseemly disturbance
of any kind that might "spoil sport," at the formal
ddls or aenaehs, or meetings, for whatever purpose
convened. Whatever causes of quarrel may have
CHAP. XXV.] ASSEMBLIES, SPOUTS, AND PASTIMES. 503
existed between clans or individuals, whatever grudges
may have been nurtured, all had to be repressed
during these meetings. There were to be no distraints
or other processes for the recovery of debts, so that a
debtor, however deeply involved, might enjoy him-
self here with perfect safety and freedom from arrest.
The reader will perceive that all this runs parallel
with the "Sacred armistice" proclaimed by the
Greeks at their Olympic and Isthmian games, for-
bidding all quarrelling.
Besides the large fairs or other assemblies, there
were smaller meetings for special purposes, such as
councils of representative men to deliberate on local
matters. These were generally held in the open air
on little hills, and were called airecht, from aire a
chief or leading man ; for the local king or chief
always presided at them. The custom of holding
airechts was continued down to the end of the
sixteenth century. A hill of this kind, set apart
for meetings — a convention hill — was designated by
the special name aibinn or aiminn [eevin]. Hills
devoted to this important purpose were held in
much veneration, and were not to be put to any
other use. Great care was taken that they should
be kept in proper order : and anyone who stripped
sods from the surface or dug into them for any
purpose, or put cows to graze on them, was
fined.
If the meeting had to be held while the hill
happened to be bare of grass, or rough, or dirty,
the person having the management of the ddl
should have cloths of some kind spread under the
feet of kings, and rushes for the other chief people.
504 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
At small meetings held in a building or any other
confined space, the president, when he wanted silence,
shook what was called " the chain of attention,"
which was hung with little bells or loose links that;
gave forth a musical sound. Often the bells were
hung on a branch : this was called craebh sida [crave
shee-a], ' branch of peace.' The musical branch with
silver bells figures in many of the romantic tales.
Sometimes the president hushed all talk and noise
by merely standing up, like the Speaker in the House
of Commons.
4. Some Animals connected with Hunting and Sport.
The Dog. — Dogs of all kinds were used by the
people of Ireland quite as much in ancient times as
they are now : but hunting-dogs have, as might be
expected, impressed themselves most of all on the
literature. By far the most celebrated of the native
dogs was the Irish wolf-dog, noted for its size and
fierceness. Campion, the English Jesuit, who visited
Ireland, and wrote a short history of it in 1571,
says : — " They [the Irish] are not without wolves,
and greyhounds to hunt them, bigger of bone and
limine than a colt." Twelve centuries before his
time, a Roman citizen named Flavianus, who had
visited Britain, presented seven Irish dogs to his
brother Symmachus, a Roman consul, for the games
at Rome (a.d. 391) — a gift which Symmachus
acknowledges in a letter still extant : — " All Rome,"
he says, "viewed them with wonder, and thought
they must have been brought hither in iron cages."
A passage in the Book of Lismore says, " Each of
CHAP. XXV.] ASSEMBLIES, SPORTS, AND PASTIMES. 505
these hounds is as big as an ass." From the fifteenth
to the eighteenth century, Irish wolf-clogs were, it
might be said, celebrated all over the world, so that
they were sent as valuable presents to kings and
emperors, princes, grand Turks, noblemen, queens,
and highborn ladies, in all the chief cities of Europe,
and even in India and Persia. After the final
extinction of wolves in Ireland in the early part of
the eighteenth century, the need for these great dogs
ceasedj and the race was let die out.
The word cu was generally applied to any fierce dog,
this term being qualified by certain epithets to denote
dogs of various kinds. A greyhound or hunting-dog,
whether a wolf-dog or any other, was commonly
called milchu. A watch-dog for a house was called
archu, from ar or air, to watch. These watch-dogs
were kept in every house of any consequence ; and
they were tied up by day and let loose by night. At
the present time the most general name for a dog is
madra or ma da, which is also an old word.
It appears from some passages in the Laws, as well
as from general Irish literature, that lapdogs were as
much in favour in Ireland in old times as they are
now : women of all classes, from queens down, kept
them. The commonest name for a lapdog was oircne
[urkina], a diminutive of oirc [urk], which means,
among other things, a little dog. A lapdog was also
called messan, which is in use among the English-
speaking people of Scotland at the present day.
A wicked dog had a muzzle (srublingi), and some-
times an eye-cap or covering of leather fastened over
his eyes. When a dog was found to be mad, it was
hunted down and killed, its body was burned, and
506 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
the ashes were thrown into a stream. Here is the
quaint language of the Book of Aicill on this point : —
" There is no benefit in proclaiming it [i.e. sending
round warning of a mad dog] unless it be killed ; nor
though it be killed, unless it be burned ; nor though
it be burned, unless its ashes have been cast into a
stream."
Wolves. — A common name for a wolf was cu-
allaidh [coo-allee], i.e. ' wild-hound.' Another was
inactive [macteera], which literally means 'son of the
country,' in allusion to the wild places that were the
haunts of these animals. Faelchu is now a general
name for a wolf. In old times wolves were so
numerous in the woods and fastnesses of Ireland as
to constitute a formidable danger to the community :
so that in Irish writings we meet with frequent
notices of their ravages, and of the measures taken
to guard against them. In later times, and probably
in early ages as well, we know that these animals
were hunted down by the great Irish wolf-dog : and
they were also caught in traps. As the population
and the extent of open cultivated land increased,
wolves became less numerous and were held well in
check ; but during the wars of the reign of Elizabeth,
when the country was almost depopulated, they
increased enormously and became bolder and fiercer,
so that we often find notices of their ravages in the
literature of those times.
Deer were plentiful in ancient Ireland, and they
are noticed everywhere in the literature, both lay
and ecclesiastical. By far the most remarkable of
the ancient deer of this country was the gigantic
Irish elk, the bones of which are now often found
CHAP. XXV.] ASSEMBLIES, SPORTS, AND PASTIMES. 507
buried deep in clay, sometimes with a thick layer of
bog over it. It is well established that this stately
creature lived in the country for some considerable
time contemporaneously with man : but it seems
probable that it had disappeared before the time
reached by our oldest writings : so that it is lost to
history ; and those deer so often spoken of in Irish
Fig. iq7.
Skeleton of Irish Elk in National Museum, Dublin. (From plate of
Roy. Dub. Soc.) Human skeleton put in for comparison.
literature are not the great Irish elk, but animals
like those of the present day. The skeleton of the
elk in the National Museum has antlers extending
twelve feet from tip to tip : and, as may be seen
from the figure, stands nearly twice the height of
a man. The most common word for a deer isfiadh
[feea], which originally meant ' wild.'
508 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
The Hare would appear to be the smallest animal
to which the term fiadh (' wild ') was applied, if we
may judge by the composition of its name gerr-fhiadh
[gerree']; i.e. short or small fiadh, from gerr, ' short
or deficient.' Sometimes a hare was called mil-maighe
[meel-mee], ' beast of the plain.'
The Cat, — A cat is called by the same name
with slight- variations, in nearly all the languages
of Europe : in Irish the common name is catt. Wild
cats were in old times very plentiful : large, wicked,
rough-looking creatures, very strong and active and
very dangerous ; and the race is not yet quite
extinct, for wild cats, nearly twice the size of our
domestic animals, are still found in some solitary
places. It was these animals that gave origin to
the legend, very common in ancient Irish story, of
a monstrous enchanted wild cat, dwelling in a cave,
and a match for the bravest champion. Stories of
demon cats have found their wray down to modern
Irish legend.
Otters. — The otter has several names in Irish,
the most usual in old writings being dobor-chu,
' water-hound ' (from dolor or dobnr, an old word
for water). It was also called madad- or madra-uisce,
' water-dog.' Otters abounded in rivers and lakes,
and were hunted, partly for sport and partly for
their skins. Otter skins formed an important
article of commerce, so that they were sometimes
given as payment in kind for rent or tribute.
Of the badger it will be enough to say here that
it was called in Irish broc, and that the chase of the
"heavy-sided, low-bellied badger" was a favourite
sport among high and low.
CHAP. XXV. J ASSEMBLIES, SPOKTS, AND PASTIMES. 509
5. Races.
The old Irish were passionately fond of racing,
even more so than those of the present day. Every-
where, in all sorts of Irish literature, we read of
races — kings, nobles, and common people attending
them at every opportunity. The popularity of the
sport affected even the Law : for we find in the
Senchus Mor a provision that young sons of kings
and chiefs when in fosterage are to be supplied by
the foster-fathers with horses in time of races.
But perhaps the best illustration of the passionate
admiration of people, high and low, for this sport is
that it is represented, in some of the old Tales, as
one of the delights of the pagan heaven.
The Curragh of Kildare, or, as it was anciently
called, the " Curragh of the Liffey," was, as it is still,
the most celebrated racecourse in all Ireland : and
there are numerous notices of its sports in Annals
and Tales. The races were held here in connexion
with the yearly fair, which was called Aenach Colmain
or Aenach Life, as being on the plain of the Liffey.
It was the great fair-meeting of the southern half of
Ireland, and especially of the kings of Leinster, when
they resided at the palace of DunAilinn (now
Knockaulin: see p. 332, above), which was on the
edge, and which, being on a flat, detached hill, over-
looked the Curragh and its multitudes. Though sports
and pastimes of all kinds were carried on there, races
constituted the special and most important feature,
so that some of the annalists mention the Curragh
under the name of " Curragh of the Baces." The
5lO SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
games here were formally opened by the king, or one
of the princes, of Leinster, and lasted for several
days : and the great importance attached to them is
indicated in the " Will of Cahirmore," in which that
king bequeaths to his son Criffan the " leadership of
[i.e. the privileges of opening and patronising] the
games of the province of Leinster."
Numerous references to chariot-racing are met with
in Irish literature. During the first three centuries
of the Christian era, this sport was universal in
Ireland ; and it was specially popular among the
Ked Branch Knights. Horse-racing was also very
general, almost as much so indeed as racing with
chariots. The Fena of Erin, as we have seen (p. 45,
supra), did not use chariots, either in battle or in
racing ; but they were devoted to horse -racing.
Foot-racing does not appear to have been much
practised by any class.
Coursing with greyhounds was another favourite
amusement. On one occasion Irish visitors at a
meeting in a distant land were challenged to a
coursing match ; which came off with victory for the
Irish hounds. The greyhounds mentioned in Cor-
^nac's Glossary as being always found at oenachs or
fair-meetings, were for coursing contests, as part of
the games carried on at the fair.
6. Chase and Capture of Wild Animals.
Some wild animals were chased for sport, some for
food, and some merely to extirpate them as being
noxious : but it will be convenient to include all here
in connexion with sports and pastimes. Everywhere
CHAP. XXV.] ASSEMBLIES, SPORTS, AND PASTIMES. 5ll
in our literature we meet with notices of huntin
&j
and of various other methods by whick wild animals
were taken. The hunters led the chase chiefly on
foot, with different breeds of hunting-dogs, according
to the animals to be chased. The principal kinds
of game were deer, wild pigs, badgers, otters, and
wolves ; and hares and foxes were hunted with beagles
for pure amusement. Pig-hunting was a favourite
sport.
For the larger and more dangerous game, such as
wild boars, wolves, and deer, the hunters employed
wolfhounds and other breeds of large dogs ; and in
the romantic literature we have many a passage
describing the dangers of the chase, and the courage,
skill, and swiftness of hunters and hounds. The
Tales also reflect the immense delight those observant
and nature -loving people took in the chase and all its
joyous accompaniments.
Most of the details of the manner of trapping deer
we learn from the Book of Aicill. They were caught
in a deep pit or pitfall, with a trap, and a bir or spear
fixed firmly in a wooden stock in the bottom, point
upwards ; the whole gin concealed by a brathlang or
light covering of sods and brambles. Wild hogs,
wolves, and other animals were also caught in traps.
Wooden traps for otters are now often found in bogs,
with valves, springs, and triggers. The animal, while
attempting to force its way through, was caught and
held by the edge of the door or valve.
There were traps and nets of several kinds to
catch birds. The word sds [sauce], which means an
engine or gin of any kind, is applied to a bird-trap.
A basket-shaped bird-crib, such as is used by boys at
512
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [pART III.
the present day, was called cliabhdn [cleevann],
which is also the word for a child's cradle : a dimi-
nutive of cliabh [cleeve], a basket. Birds were also
caught, as they are still in the Orkneys and Hebrides,
by men let down in baskets with ropes over the cliffs
round the coasts. Bird- catching was considered of
such importance that special laws were laid down to
regulate it — "bird-net laws," as they were called.
Fish as an important article of food has been already
spoken of. The general Irish word for a fish is iasc
[eesk], cognate with
Latin inscis and English
fish. The people fished
with the net and with
hook and line, both in
the sea and in lakes
and rivers. Net-fishing
came under the
cognisance of the law ;
it is mentioned in the
Senchus Mor ; and it
appears from the gloss
that a fishing-net was
called cochull and I in
[leen], both words in use still. Both salmon and
eels were often caught with trident spears, or with
spears of more than three prongs : and sometimes
people followed the primitive plan of transfixing
large fish with a single-point spear. Salmon-fishing
was the most important of all, and it is oftenest
mentioned in the old writings. A salmon is desig-
nated by several Irish terms ; but braddn is now the
general name.
Fig. 198.
Iron-pronged Fishing-spear : now in Nat.
Mus., Dub. (Drawn from the original.)
CHAP. XXV.] ASSEMBLIES, SPORTS, AND PASTIMES. 513
Fishing-weirs on rivers were very common. A
man who had land adjoining a stream had the
right to construct a weir for his own use : but
according to law, he could not dam the stream
more than one-third across, so that the fish might
have freedom to pass up or down to the weirs be-
longing to others.
7. Caman or Hurling, and other athletic games.
Hurling or goaling has been a favourite game
among the Irish from the earliest ages ; and those
who remember the eagerness with which it was
practised in many parts of Ireland sixty years ago
can well attest that it had not declined in popularity.
Down to a recent period it was carried on with great
spirit and vigour in the Phoenix Park, Dublin, where
the men of Meath contended every year against
the men of Kildare. It still continues, though less
generally than formerly, to be a favourite pastime ;
and there is lately a strong movement to revive it.
So far as can be judged from the old literature, it
was much the same a thousand years ago as it is
now. It was played with a ball (liathroid : pro-
nounced leeroad) about four inches in diameter,
made of some light elastic material, such as woollen
yarn wound round and round, and covered with
leather. Each player had a wooden hurley to strike
the ball, generally of ash, about three feet long, care-
fully shaped and smoothed, with the lower end flat
and curved. This was called oamdn [commaun], a
diminutive from cam, ' curved': but in old writings we
find another name, lorg {i.e. ' staff'), also used. The
2l
514 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
game was called iomdn [inmiaun], meaning ' driving'
or * urging': but now commonly camdn, from the
camdn or hurley. In a regular match the players on
each side were equal in number. It was played on a
level grassy field, at each end of which was a narrow
gap (berna) or goal, formed by two poles or bushes,
or it might be a gap in the fence. The general name
for the winning goal was bdire [bawre]. The play
was commenced by throwing up the ball in the
middle of the field : the players struck at it with
their hurleys, the two parties in opposite directions
towards the gaps ; and the game, or part of it, was
ended when one party succeeded in driving it through
their opponents' gap. It was usual for each party to
station one of their most skilful men beside their own
gap to intercept the ball in case it should be sent
flying direct towards it : this man was said to stand
eul [cool], or cul-bdire, ' rear- guard ' : ciil meaning
1 back.'
Various other athletic exercises were practised,
some of them like those we see at the present day.
8. Chess.
In ancient Ireland chess-playing was a favourite
pastime among the higher classes. Everywhere in
the Romantic Tales we read of kings and chiefs
amusing themselves with chess ; and to be a good
player was considered a necessary accomplishment
of every man of high position. At banquets and all
other festive gatherings this was sure to be one of
the leading features of the entertainment. In every
chief's house there was accordingly at least one set
CHAP. XXV.] ASSEMBLIES, SPORTS, AND PASTIMES. 515
of chess appliances for the use of the family and
guests : and chess-boards were sometimes given as
part of the tributes to kings.
The chessboard, which was divided into black and
white squares, was called fitcheU [fihel], and this
name was also applied to
the game itself. The chess-
men, when not in use, were
kept in a fer-bobj or * man-
bag,' which was sometimes
of brass or bronze wire
woven. The chiefs took
great delight in ornament-
ing their chessboards and
men richly and elaborately
with the precious metals
and gems. The men were
distinguished half and half,
in some obvious way, to
catch the eyes of the two
players. Sometimes they
were black and white.
Many ancient chessmen
have been found in bogs, in
Lewis and other parts of
Scotland : but so far as I
know we have only a single
specimen belonging to Ire-
land, which was found about 1817 in a bog in Meath,
and which is now in the National Museum, Dublin.
I have headed this short section with the name
" Chess," and have all through translated filcheU by
' chess,' in accordance with the usage of O'Donovan,
2l2
Fig. 199.
Bone Chessman, King, full size ;
found in a bog in Meath about 1817.
Drawn by Petrie.
516 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
O'Curry, and Petrie. Dr. Whitley Stokes, on the
other hand, uniformly renders it ' draughts.' But,
so far as I am aware, there is no internal evidence in
Irish literature sufficient to determine with certainty
whether the game of fitchell was chess or draughts :
for the descriptions would apply equally to both.
9. Jesters, Jugglers, and Gleemen.
From the most remote times in Ireland, kings
kept fools, jesters, and jugglers in their courts,
for amusement, like kings of England and other
countries in much later times. In the Tales we
constantly read of such persons and their sayings and
doings. They were often kept in small companies.
The most common name for a jester or fool was
driith (pron. droo : to be carefully distinguished from
driu, ' a druid').
Fools when acting as professional clowns were
dressed fantastically ; and they amused the people
something in the same way as the court fools and
buffoons of later times — by broad impudent remarks,
jests, half witty, half absurd, and odd gestures and
grimaces. King Conari's three jesters were such
surpassingly funny fellows that, as we are told in
the story of Da Derga, no man could refrain from
laughing at them, even though the dead body of
his father or mother lay stretched out before him.
Professional gleemen travelled from place to place,
earning a livelihood by amusing the people like travel-
ling showmen of the present day. To these the word
driith is sometimes applied, though their more usual
name was crossan. There was a driith of a different
CHAP. XXV.] ASSEMBLIES, SPORTS, AND PASTIMES. 517
kind from all those noticed above, a hand-juggler —
a person who performed sleight-of-hand tricks. Such
a person was called a clessamnach [classownagh],
i.e. a ' trick-performer,' from cless, a trick. In the
Bruden Da Derga, King Conari's clessamnach and his
trick of throwing up balls and other small articles,
catching them one by one as they came down, and
throwing them up again, are well described : — " He
had clasps of gold in his ears (p. 417, supra) ; and
wore a speckled white cloak. He had nine [short]
swords, nine [small] silvery shields, and nine balls
of gold. [Taking up a certain number of them] he
flung them up one by one, and not one of them does
he let fall to the ground, and there is but one of
them at any one time in his hand. Like the buzzing-
whirl of bees on a beautiful day was their motion in
passing one another."
The crossans or gleemen continued till the six-
teenth century ; and the poet Spenser describes and
denounces them as a mischievous class of people.
People of all the above classes, crossans, druths,
jesters, tumblers, distortionists, and so forth, were
looked upon as dishonoured and disreputable. This
appears from several passages in the Laws, by
which we see they were denied certain civil rights
enjoyed by ordinary citizens ; and especially from an
ordinance of the Senchus Mor, which, classifying
banquets into godly, human, and demon banquets,
defines demon banquets as those given to evil people,
such as satirists, jesters, buffoons, mountebanks, out-
laws, heathens, harlots, and bad people in general.
And many other passages in Irish literature might
be quoted to the same effect.
- . ' ■ - • — 7 . " '■
Sculpture on a Capital : Priest's House, Glendalough : Beranger, 1779-
(From Petrie's Round Towers.)
CHAPTER XXVI.
VARIOUS SOCIAL CUSTOMS AND OBSERVANCES.
Section 1. Salutation.
,ome of the modes of salutation and of
showing respect practised by the
■§/ ancient Irish indicate much gentle-
ness and refinement of feeling. When
a distinguished visitor arrived, it was
usual to stand up as a mark of respect.
Giving a kiss— or more generally three
kisses — on the cheek was a very usual form of
respectful and affectionate salutation : it was indeed
the most general of all. When St. Columba
approached the assembly at Drum-ketta, " King
Domnall rose immediately before him, and bade him
welcome, and kissed his cheek, and set him down in
his own place."
A very pleasing way of showing respect and affec-
tion, which we often find noticed, was laying the
head gently on the person's bosom. When Ere,
King Concobar's grandson, came to him, " he placed
CHAP. XXVI.] VARIOUS SOCIAL CUSTOMS. 519
his head on the breast of his grandfather." Some-
times persons bent the head and went on one knee
to salute a superior.
2. Pledging, Lending, and Borrowing.
Although there were no such institutions in ancient
Ireland as pawn-offices, pledging articles for a
temporary loan was common enough. The practice
was such a general feature of society that the Brehon
Law took cognisance of it — as our law now takes
cognisance of pawn-offices — and stepped in to prevent
abuses. Portable articles of any kind — including
animals — might be pledged for a loan, or as security
for the repayment of a debt ; and the law furnishes a
long list of pledgable articles. The person holding
the pledge might put it to its proper use while in
his possession, unless there was express contract
against it ; but he was not to injure it by rough
usage. He was obliged to return it on receiving a
day's notice, provided the borrower tendered the sum
borrowed, or the debt, with its interest : and if he
failed to do so, he was liable to fine. Borrowing or
lending, on pledge, was a very common transaction
among neighbours ; and it was not looked upon as in
any sense a thing to be ashamed of, as pawning
articles is at the present day.
It may be observed that the existence in ancient
Ireland of the practice of pledging and lending for
interest, the designation of the several functions by
different terms, and the recognition of all by the
Brehon Law, may be classed, among numerous other
customs and institutions noticed throughout this book,
520 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
as indicating a very advanced stage of civilisation.
At what an early period this stage — of lending for
interest — was reached may be seen from the fact that
it is mentioned in an Irish gloss of the eighth
century.
3. Provision for Old Age and Destitution.
Old age was greatly honoured, and provision was
made for the maintenance of old persons who were
not able to support themselves. When the head of a
family became too old to manage his affairs, it was an
arrangement sanctioned by the Law that he might
retire, and give up both headship and land to his
son, on condition of being maintained for the rest of
his life. In this case, if he did not choose to live
with his son, a separate house was built for him, the
dimensions and furniture of which, as well as the
dimensions of the little kitchen-garden, are set forth
in the law. If the old man had no children, he might
make over his property to a stranger on the same
condition of due maintenance. Or he might purchase
from the neighbouring monastery the right to lodge
on the premises and board with the inmates : an
arrangement common in England to a late period,
where the purchased privilege of boarding and lodging
in a monastery was called " Corrody."
As to old persons who had no means, the duty of
maintaining them fell primarily of course on the
children : or failing children, on the foster-child. A
son or daughter who was able to support parents, but
who evaded the duty, was punished. If an old person
who had no children became destitute, the tribe was
CHAP. XXVI.] VARIOUS SOCIAL CUSTOMS. 521
bound to take care of him. A usual plan was to
send him to live with some family willing to under-
take the duty, who had an allowance from the tribe
for the cost of support.
In some cases destitute persons dependent on the
tribe, who did not choose to live with a strange
family, but preferred to have their own little house,
received what we now call outdoor relief. There was
a special officer called uaithne [oohina: lit. a 'pillar']
whose business it was to look after them : or, in the
words of the law tract, to " oversee the wretched and
the poor," and make sure that they received the
proper allowance : like the relieving officer of our
present poor laws. He was of course paid for this
duty ; and it is added that he should bear " attacks
on his honour" without his family or himself
needing to take any action in the matter— referring
to the abuse and insults he was likely to receive
from the peevish and querulous class he had in
charge.
From the provisions here described it will be seen
that the most important features of our modern
poor-laws were anticipated in Ireland a thousand
years ago.
4. Love of Nature and of Natural Beauty.
The poet's adage, " A thing of beauty is a joy for
ever," found real and concrete application among the
ancient Irish. Their poetry, their tales, and even
their proper names, to this day bear testimony to
their intense love of nature and their appreciation
of natural beauty. Keats, in the opening of
522 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
" Endymion," enumerates various natural features
and artificial creations as "things of beauty," among
others, the sun, the moon, "trees old and new,"
clear rills, " the mid-forest brake," " all lovely tales
that we have heard or read." These and many other
features of nature and art, not mentioned by Keats —
the boom and dash of the waves, the cry of the sea-
birds, the murmur of the wind among the trees, the
howling of the storm, the sad desolation of the land-
scape in winter, the ever-varying beauty of Irish
clouds, the cry of the hounds in full career among
the glens, the beauty of the native music, tender,
sad, or joyous, and soforth in endless variety — all
these are noticed and dwelt upon by those observant
old Irish writers — especially in their poetry — in
words as minutely descriptive and as intensely appre-
ciative as the poetry of Wordsworth.
The singing of birds had a special charm for the
old Irish people. Comgan, otherwise called Mac da
Cherda (seventh century), standing on the great rath
of Cnoc-Rafann (now KnockgrafTon in Tipperary :
see p. 342, above), which was in his time surrounded
with woods, uttered the following verse, as we find it
preserved in Cormac's Glossary: —
" This great rath on which I stand,
Wherein is a little well with a hright silver drinking -cup :
Sweet was the voice of the wood of hlackbirds
Round this rath of Fiacha son of Moinche."
Among the numerous examples of Metre given in a
treatise on Prosody in the Book of Ballymote is the
following verse, selected there merely for a gramma-
tical purpose : —
CHAP. XXVI.] VARIOUS SOCIAL CUSTOMS. 523
" The bird that calls within the sallow-tree,
Beautiful his beak and clear his voice ;
The tip of the bill of the glossy jet-black bird is a lovely
yellow ;
The note that the merle warbles is a trilling lay."
It would be hard to find a more striking or a
prettier conception of the power of music in the
shape of a bird-song, than the account of Blanid's
three cows with their three little birds which used to
sing to them during milking. These cows were always
milked into a caldron, but submitted reluctantly and
gave little milk till the birds came to their usual
perch — on the cows' ears — and sang for them : then
they gave their milk freely till the caldron was
filled.*
Many students of our ancient literature have
noticed these characteristics. "Another poem" —
writes Mr. Alfred Nutt — " strikes a note which
remains dominant throughout the entire range of
Ossianic Literature : the note of keen and vivid
feeling for certain natural conditions. It is a brief
description of winter : —
" *A tale here for you : oxen lowing : winter snowing : summer
passed away : wind from the north, high and cold : low the sun
and short his course: wildly tossing the wave of the sea. The
fern burns deep red. Men wrap themselves closely : the wild
goose raises her wonted cry : cold seizes the wing of the bird :
'tis the season of ice: sad my tale.' "
Even the place-names scattered over the country
— names that remain in hundreds to this day — bear
* See also pp. 260, 261, above, about milking-songs.
524 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
testimony to this pleasing feature of the Irish charac-
ter : for we have numerous places still called by
names with such significations as " delightful wood,"
"silvery stream," " cluster of nuts " (for a hazel
wood), "prattling rivulet," "crystal well," "the
recess of the bird-warbling," " melodious little hill,"
" the fragrant bush-cluster," and soforth in endless
variety.*
5. Something further about Animals.
There are not, and never have been, any venomous
reptiles in Ireland. There are small lizards, five or
six inches long, commonly called in Irish, art- or
arc-luachra, * lizard of the rushes,' but they are quite
harmless. According to Giraldus, the first frog ever
seen in Ireland was found in his own time in a
meadow near Waterford : but recently our naturalists
have discovered a native frog, or rather a small
species of toad, in a remote district in Kerry.
But though we have no great reptiles in nature,
we are amply compensated by legends, according to
which there lives at the bottom of many of the Irish
lakes a monstrous serpent or dragon, usually called
piast or heist, i.e. 'beast,' from Latin bestia; and
sometimes nathir, i.e. 'serpent.' The legend is as
prevalent to-day as it was a thousand years ago :
and very many lakes have now, as the people say,
a frightful monster, with a great hairy mane, at the
bottom.
* For the originals of all the above names, and for numerous
others of a like kind, see Irish Names of Places, vol. II.,
chap, iv., on "Poetical and Fancy Names."
CHAP. XXVI.] VARIOUS SOCIAL CUSTOMS. 525
But we had a much more gigantic and much more
deadly sea-monster than any of these— the Rosualt —
a mighty animal that cut a great figure in Irish
tales of the olden time. When the Eosualt was alive
— which was in the time of St. Columkille— he was
able to vomit in three different ways three years in
succession. One year he turned up his tail, and
with his head buried deep down, he spewed the con-
tents of his stomach into the water, in consequence
of which all the fish died in that part of the sea,
and currachs and ships were wrecked and swamped.
Next year he sank his tail into the Water, and,
rearing his head high up in the air, belched out
such noisome fumes that all the birds fell dead.
In the third year he turned his head shoreward and
vomited towards the land, causing a pestilential
vapour to creep over the country, that killed men
and four-footed animals.
6. Animals as Pets.
Many passages, both in the Brehon Laws and in
Irish literature in general, show that tenderness for
animals was a characteristic of the Irish people. It
appears from the Senchus Mor that when cattle were
taken to be impounded, if the journey was long, they
had to be fed at stations along the way : and while
in pound they should be provided with sufficient
food and water.
The custom of keeping pet animals was very
general ; and many kinds were tamed that no one
would think of keeping as pets now. We read of
lap-dogs, foxes, wolves, deer, badgers, hawks, ravens,
526 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
crows, cranes, cats, sheep, and even pigs, kept as
pets. Pet cranes were very common and are often
noticed : the Brehon Law mentions fines for tres-
passes committed by them. St. Columkille had one
which followed him about everywhere like a dog
while he was at home in Iona. St. Brendan of
Clonfert had a pet prSchdn or crow. St. Colman of
Templeshanbo in Wexford kept a flock of ducks on
a pond near the church, which were' so tame that
they came and went at his call.
Such animals were so common, and were mixed
up so much with the domestic life of the people,
that they are often mentioned in the Brehon Laws.
Many of the Irish saints were fond of animal pets ;
and this amiable trait has supplied numerous legends
to our literature. St. Patrick himself, according to
Muirchu's seventh-century narrative, showed them
a good example of tenderness for animals. When
the chief Dare gave the saint a piece of ground at
Armagh, they both went to look at it : and on their
arrival they found there a doe with its little fawn.
Some of St. Patrick's people made towards it to kill
it : but he prevented them ; and taking up the little
animal gently on his shoulder, he brought it and
laid it down in another field some distance to the
north of Armagh, the mother following him the
whole way like a pet sheep.
7. The Cardinal Points.
A single point of the compass was called dird,
which is still used in Scotland in the form of airt ;
4 'Of a' the airts the wind can blaw, I dearly like
CHAP. XXVI.] VARIOUS SOCIAL CUSTOMS. 527
the west " (Burns). The four cardinal points were
severally designated by the Irish in the same way
as by the ancient Hebrews and by the Indians ; for
they got names which expressed their position with
regard to a person standing with his face to the
east.
The original Irish word for the east is oir [ur] ;
which however is often written soir and thoir [sur,
hur]. Our ancient literature affords ample proof
that these words were used from the earliest times
to signify both the front and the east, and the same
double application continues in use at the present
day. Iar [eer] signifies the hinder part, and also
the west. Deas [dass] means literally the right-
hand side ; and it is also the word for the south, as
the right hand lies towards the south when the face
is turned to the east. The word is used in both
senses at the present day ; and this was the case in
the very earliest ages. It is often written teas [tass].
Tuath, tuaiih [thooa], means properly the left hand ;
and as deas is applied to the south, so this word is
used to signify the north.
8. The Wind,
In some old Irish descriptions of the universe, a
curious belief is recorded, that the wind blowing
from each quarter has a special colour. God made
"four chief winds and four subordinate winds, and
four other subordinate winds, so that there are
twelve winds." The four chief winds blow from
north, south, east, and west, and between each two
points of these there are two subordinate winds.
528
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE.
[PART III.
"God also made the colours of the winds, so that
the colours of all those winds are different from each
other." The old writer then enters into details;
and the whole fancy is shown very clearly in the
diagram.
Fig. 200.
The colours of the twelve winds : constructed from the description
in the Saltair na Rami.
y. The Sea.
The sea was called muir (gen. mar a) ; fairnje
[farriga] ; and more rarely ler or lear. If a man
brought in a valuable article floating on the sea,
nine waves or more out from land, he had a right to
CHAP. XXVI.] VARIOUS SOCIAL CUSTOMS. 529
it, no matter to whom it belonged, and whether the
owner gave permission or not. But if it was less
than nine waves out, the owner's permission was
necessary (l. e. permission to rescue and keep it) ;
and the man who rescued it without this permission
could not claim it as his own.
The Three Tonus or Waves of Erin are much
celebrated in Irish romantic literature. They were
Tonn Cleena in Glandore harbour in Cork (see p. Ill,
above) ; Tonn Tuaithe [tooha] outside the mouth of
the Bann in Derry; and Tonn Rudraidhe [Rury]
in Dundrum Bay off the County Down. In stormy
weather, when the wind blows in certain directions,
the sea at these places, as it tumbles over the sand-
banks, or among the caves and fissures of the rocks,
utters an unusually loud and solemn roar, which
excited the imagination of our ancestors. They
believed that these sounds had a supernatural origin,
that they gave warning of the deadly danger, or
foreboded the approaching death, of kings or chief-
tains, or bewailed a king's or a great chief's death.
Sometimes when a king was sore pressed in battle
and in deadly peril, the Three Waves roared in
response to the moan of his shield (see p. 62,
supra). The Welsh people had a similar legend:
when the young Welsh hero Dylan was killed, " he
was lamented by the Wave of Erin, the Wave of
Man, the Wave of the North, and the Wave of
Britain of the comely hosts." Though the three
Irish Waves named above were the most celebrated,
there were several other noted Tonus round the
coast. Scotland also had its voiceful waves, as our
old books record.
2 M
530 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
10. Bishop Ultan and the Orpham,
St. Ultan, bishop of Ardbraccan in Meath, seventh
century, is commemorated in the Calendars under
the 4th September, and his death is recorded in
most of the Annals. In the Feilire [Failera] of
Aengus, he is mentioned as " the great sinless prince
in whom the little ones are flourishing : the children
play greatly round Ultan of Ardbraccan." The
annotation explains this in words that give us a
glimpse of the havoc wrought by the Yellow Plague
— which attacked adults more than children — and
of the piteous scenes of human suffering witnessed
during its continuance. Everywhere through the
country numbers of little children, whose mothers
and fathers had been carried off, were left helpless
and starving. Ultan collected all the orphan babes
he could find, and brought them to his monastery.
He procured a great number of cows' teats, and
filling them with milk, he put them into the
children's mouths with his own hands, and thus
contrived to feed the little creatures ; so that in the
words of the annotation, M the infants were playing
around him." In one of the accounts, we are told
that he often had as many as 150, so that his noble
labour of love — even with help — must have kept his
hands pretty busy. It would be difficult to find an
instance where charity is presented in greater beauty
and tenderness than it is in this simple record of the
good bishop Ultan.
As curiously illustrative of this record, it is worthy
of mention that, at the present day in Russia, it is a
CHAP. XXVII.] DEATH AND BURIAL. 531
very general custom for those peasant women who
do not suckle their own children, to feed them with
a rude feeding-bottle, called by a name equivalent
to the English word "hornie," namely a cow's horn
hollowed out, and having a little opening at the
smaller end, on which is tied a cow's teat. When
the " hornie " is filled with milk, the teat is put into
the infant's mouth, who in this manner feeds itself.
CHAPTER XXVII.
DEATH AND BURIAL.
Section 1. TT7//s.
jany passages in our ancient literature
show that the custom of making wills
at the approach of death existed among
the Irish people from so early a period
that we are not able to trace its begin-
ning. Private property was disposed
of in this way quite without restriction, though not
with such strict legal formalities as are required at
the present day. The ancient Irish designated a will
by three terms : — Edoct or udhacht [ooaght], which
is the word used at present; timne\ and cennaite
[kennite : 3-syll.].
There was, in the law, a merciful provision, called
" The rights of a corpse," to save the family of a
2m 2
532 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
dead man from destitution in case he died in debt,
namely : — " Every dead body has in its own right a
cow, and a horse, and a garment, and the furniture
of his bed ; nor shall any of these be paid in satis-
faction of his debts ; because they are, as it were,
the special property of his body." Of course this
reserved property passed to the family, and could
not be claimed by a creditor or any other outsider.
2. Funeral Obsequies.
There were several words for death :— es, eg, cro;
all now obsolete, except perhaps eg : the word at
present in use is has [bauss], which is also an old
word.
The pagan Irish, like many other ancient nations,
celebrated the obsequies of distinguished persons by
funeral games, as already mentioned (p. 497, supra) :
and in some cases the games, once instituted,
continued to be carried on periodically at the
burial-place, far into Christian times. On the
death of ordinary persons there was simply a funeral
feast, chiefly for guests, whether among pagans or
Christians.
On the death of a Christian a bell was rung. The
body was watched or waked for one or more nights.
In case of eminent persons the watch was kept up
long : St. Patrick was waked for twelve nights ;
Brian Boru for the same length of time in Armagh
in 1014; St. Senan for eight nights; St. Columba
for three at Iona. Among the pagan Irish, seven
nights and days was the usual time for "great
persons. In Christian obsequies lights were kept
CHAP. XXVII.] DEATH AND BURIAL. 538
burning the whole time: during St. Patrick's twelve-
night wake, the old Irish writers tell us that night
was made like day with the blaze of torches.
The mourners raised their voices when weeping,
like the Egyptians, Jews, and Greeks of old; a
practice mentioned in the most ancient writings,
and continued in Ireland to the present day. This
wailing was called caoi or caoine [kee, keena], com-
monly anglicised keen or keening— weeping aloud.
The lamentation was often accompanied by words
expressive of sorrow and of praise of the dead, some-
times in verse, and often extempore. This custom
has also come down to modern times. A regular
elegy, composed and recited at the time of death, was
usually called Nuall-guba (' lamentation of sorrow':
pron. Nool-gooa) ; but often Amra, a word usually
understood as 'a eulogistic elegy.' Dalian Forgall's
Amra for St. Columbkille has long been celebrated,
and is one of the most difficult pieces of Irish in
existence.
Among the Irish pagans it was the custom — which
probably continued to Christian times — to wash the
body. This Irish custom corresponded with that of
the Greeks, who washed the bodies of their dead as
part of the funeral obsequies : and the same custom
prevailed among the Phoenicians and Romans.
The corpse was wrapped in a recholl, i.e. a shroud
or winding-sheet : also called eslene [3-syll.], which
is derived from cs, death, and Unc, a shirt : ' death-
shirt.' When about to be buried, the body was
placed on a fuat or bier, which was borne to the
grave, sometimes by men ; but if the distance was
considerable, on a car, generally drawn by oxen.
534 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
St. Patrick's body was placed on a little car, which was
drawn from Saul to the grave at Dun-leth-glass, now
Downpatrick, by oxen. In pagan times the body
was sometimes brought to the grave wrapped up in
a covering of green bushy branches, commonly of
birch, which, in some cases at least, was buried with
the body. No doubt this branchy covering was
intended to protect the body from the clay, like our
wooden coffins. The pagan Irish had always a fe
[fay] or rod, of aspen, with an ogham inscription
scored on it, lying in their cemeteries for measuring
the bodies and the graves. This/c' was regarded with
the utmost horror, and no one would, on any con-
sideration, take it in his hand or touch it, except of
course the person whose business it was to measure.
We know from Caesar that it was the custom
among the Gauls, when celebrating funeral obse-
quies, to burn, with the body of the chief, his slaves,
clients, and favourite animals. But this custom did
not reach Ireland. Among the Irish pagans, how-
ever, cattle were sometimes sacrificed on such occa-
sions : they were not buried with the corpse, but
merely killed and eaten at the funeral feast.
3. Modes of Burial.
In ancient Ireland the dead were buried in a variety
of ways. One mode was to place the body lying flat
in the grave as at present, usually with the feet to
the cast ; and another was to put it standing up,
fully armed, as described below. Occasionally it was
placed in a sitting posture. Still another mode was
to burn the body, and deposit the ashes and fragments
CHAP. XXVII.] DEATH AND BURIAL.
535
Fig. 201.
Cinerary Urn, of stone, a very rare and beautiful
specimen: 8# in. high : now in National Museum.
(From Wilde's Catalogue.)
of bones in an ornamented urn, generally of baked
clay, but sometimes of stone. All four prevailed
in pagan times :
but the first only
was sanctioned
and continued by
Christianity. Of
the first two
modes of inter-
ment— lying flat
and standing up
— we have ample
historical record.
But as to the last
— cremation —
I can find in the
whole range of
Irish literature only one direct allusion to it, and
even that not in the native
Irish writings. Yet we
know that cremation was
extensively practised in
pagan Ireland ; for urns
containing ashes and
burnt bones are found in
graves in every part of the
country.
Cremation and ordinary
burial were practised
contemporaneously, as wTe
know from the well-
ascertained fact, that in the same cromlech or grave
complete skeletons have been found along with urns
Fig. 202.
Cinerary Urn, of baked clay : 6% in.
high : now in the National Museum.
(From Wilde's Catalogue.)
536 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
containing ashes and burnt bones. This is what we
should expect ; for cremation was a troublesome and
expensive process, and could not have been practised
by poor people, most of whom must have buried the
body without burning.
Occasionally the bodies of kings and chieftains
were buried in a standing posture, arrayed in full
battle costume, with the face turned towards the
territories of their enemies. Of this custom we have
several very curious historical records. In the Book
of the Dun Cow it is related that King Laegaire
[Laery] was killed " by the sun and wind " in a
war against the Lagenians ; and " his body was
afterwards brought from the south, and interred,
with his arms of valour, in the south-east of the
external rampart of the royal Bath Laegaire at Temur
(Tara), with the face turned southwards upon the
Lagenians [as it were] fighting with them, for he
was the enemy of the Lagenians in his lifetime."
The battle of Culliu was fought on a spot which was
subsequently overflowed by Lough Corrib, where
Mannanan mac Lir fell : and the Dinnsenchus
says: — " He was killed in that battle and buried
standing up in that place."
The truthfulness of these records is borne out by
the actual discovery of skeletons standing up in
graves. In 1848 a tumulus called Croghan Erin
in the County Meath was opened, and a skeleton
was found under it standing up. About the year
1834, a skeleton was found standing erect in a earn
near Belmullet, County Mayo.
The pagan Irish believed that while the body of
their king remained in this position, it exercised a
CHAP. XXVII.] DEATH AND BURIAL. 537
malign influence on their enemies, who were thereby
always defeated in battle — a superstition that also
prevailed among the ancient Britons.*
4. Cemeteries.
In pagan times the Irish had royal cemeteries in
various parts of the country for the interment of
kings and chiefs with their families and relatives.
Of these I will notice three — Brugh, Croghan, and
Tailltenn.
The cemetery of Brugh — the burial-place of the
Dedannans — lies on the northern bank of the Boyne,
a little below Slane, extending along the river for
nearly three miles. It is one of the most remarkable
pagan cemeteries in Europe, consisting of about
twenty barrows or burial-moulds of various sizes,
containing chambers or artificial caves, with shallow
saucer-shaped sarcophagi. The three principal
mounds are those of New Grange, Knowth, and
Dowth, which are the largest sepulchral mounds in
Ireland. There are numerous pillar-stones : and
many of the great stones forming the sides and roofs
of the caves are carved with curious ornamental
designs of various patterns — circles, spirals, lozenges,
and soforth. The term brugh (pron. broo) has several
meanings, one of which is a ' great house or man-
sion ' (p. 290, above) : and it was applied to this
cemetery because the principal mound, that now called
* For much more on this point, see my Irish Names of Places,
vol. i., p. 330 ; and the larger Social History, n., 552.
538
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
New Grange, was supposed to have been the fairy
palace of the Dedannan chief and magician, Aengus
Mac-in-Og (see p. 108, supra). To this day the name
is preserved : for a place beside New Grange mound
is now called Broo or Bro.
Fig. 203.
New Grange. About 70 feet high, but once much higher : base occupies more
than an acre. Formed of loosely-piled stones, with a surface of clay, covered
with grass. It was surrounded at base by a circle of great pillar-stones, about a
dozen of which remain. Beehive-shaped chamber in centre, so feet in diameter,
and 19 feet high, with three recesses, in one of which is a shallow sarcophagus
A passage, 60 feet long, leads to exterior : sides of both chamber and passage
formed of enormous stones, covered with carvings like those seen on fig. 205,
farther on. This sepulchre closely resembles some of the ancient Greek tombs.
(From Wakeman's Handbook of Irish Antiquities.)
The cemetery of Croghan is called in old docu-
ments relig na Big [Rellig-na-ree], or the ' burial-
place of the kings.' It is half a mile south of
Croghan, the seat of the kings of Connaught (for
which see p. 331, supra), and is still well recognisable,
with numerous sepulchral monuments. It covers
about two acres, and is surrounded by a dry wall, now
all in ruins. A little to the north-west of this main
CHAP. XXVII.] DEATH AND BURIAL. 539
cemetery is a natural cave of considerable extent,
still much celebrated in popular legend. This is the
very cavern — the " Hell-Gate of Ireland " already
mentioned — from which in old times, on every Samain
Eve, issued the malignant bird-flocks on their baleful
flight, to blight crops and kill animals with their
poisonous breath. The great Queen Maive lived at
Oroghan, and was interred in this cemetery ; and to
the present day, all over the district, there are vivid
traditions about her.
Tailltenn as a palace, and as the scene of a great
annual fair, has been already noticed. The cemetery
was situated near the palace, but has been long
obliterated ; and no wonder, seeing that the whole
site, including raths, sporting-greens, beds of artificial
ponds, cemetery, &c, has been for generations under
cultivation : so that, with the exception of one large
rath, the ramparts and fences have nearly disappeared.
Besides the great royal cemeteries noticed in the
records, the pagan people had their own local bury-
ing-places in every part of the country, of which the
remains are still to be seen in several places, con-
taining the usual mounds and kistvaens. The history
of many of these is quite lost. By far the most
remarkable and extensive cemetery of this last class
in all Ireland is that on the ridge of the Loughcrew
hills near Oldcastle in Meath. It consists of a
wonderful collection of great mounds, earns, crom-
lechs, sepulchral chambers, inscribed stones, and
stone saucer-shaped sarcophagi, all of the same
general character as those of Brugh. It must have
been a noted cemetery ; yet not a word about it is to
be found in our old books.
510 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
By far the greatest number of interments in pagan
times were, not in cemeteries, but in detached spots,
where individuals or families were interred. Such
detached graves are now found in every part of
Ireland. Sometimes they are within the enclosure
of raths and cashels. After the introduction of
Christianity in the fifth century, the people gradually
forsook their pagan burial-places : and the dead
were buried with Christian rites in the consecrated
cemeteries attached to the little primitive churches.
Beilir/, Old Irish relec, means a cemetery or graveyard,
and it was applied to a pagan as well as to a Christian
cemetery. We have already seen (p. 270) that the
cemetery in which the victims of a plague were
interred was called Tamhlacht.
5. Sepulchral Monuments.
The monuments constructed round and over the
dead in Ireland were of various kinds, very much
depending on the rank of the person buried : and
they were known by several names. Some were
in cemeteries, some — belonging to pagan times —
detached. Many of the forms of monuments used by
the pagan Irish were continued in Christian times.
Carn and Duma. — In our ancient literature, both
lay and ecclesiastical, there are many notices of the
erection of earns over graves. The Irish word cam
simply means ' a heap.' We have records of the build-
ing of earns in documents of the seventh century;
but they were also erected in times long before the
Christian era. In or near the centre of almost every
earn, a beehive-shaped chamber of dry masonry was
CHAP. XXVII.] DEATH AND BURIAL. 541
formed, communicating with the exterior by a long
narrow passage. The body or urn was placed in the
chamber : in some chambers, rude shallow stone
coffins shaped like a saucer have been found. In old
pagan times people had a fancy to bury on the tops
of hills ; and the summits of very many hills in Ireland
are crowned with earns, under every one of which —
in a stone coffin — reposes some person renowned in
the olden time. They are sometimes very large, and
.pi*
Fig. 204.
Duma or burial mound, beside the Boyne, near Ctonard : very
conspicuous from the railway, on the left as you go westward.
Circumference, 433 feet; height. 50 feet. (From Wilde's Boyne
and Blackwater.)
form conspicuous objects when viewed from the
neighbouring plains. A monumental heap or earn is
often called a lecht or leacht. Sometimes entire
skeletons have been found under earns and lechts,
sometimes cinerary urns, and sometimes both together,
showing that these monuments were used with both
modes of burial (see pp. 535, 536, supra).
The cluma or mound — often called tuaim — was
made of clay, or of a mixture of clay and small pebbles,
542 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PAET III.
having usually, at the present time, a smooth carpet
of grass growing on it. While earns were often
placed on hills, the dumas were always in the lowlands.
The duma, like the earn, has a cist or chamber in the
Fig. 205.
Sepulchral chamber with shallow sarcophagus : in the interior of one of the
Loughcrew cams. Observe the characteristic pagan carvings. (From Colonel
Wood-Martin's Pagan Ireland.)
centre, in which the urn or body was placed : some-
times there is a passage to the outside, sometimes not.
Numerous mounds of this class still remain all over
the country : they may be generally distinguished
from the mounds of duns by the absence of circum-
CHAP. XXVII.] DEATH AND BURIAL . 543
vallations. Very often round a duma there was a
circle of pillar-stones, some of which remain in
position to the present day. But stone circles simply,
or stone enclosures of other shapes, with a level space
within, are often found. These always mark a place
of interment, being placed round a grave. One is
represented here (fig. 206).
Fig. 206.
Bird's-eye view of sepulchral stone enclosure. Between 90 and too feet
long, by about 30 feet wide. (From Wilde's Catalogue.)
Comrar, Kistvaen, Cromlech. — The stone coffin,
chest, or cist in which a body was interred, or in
which one or more urns were placed, was called in
Irish a comrar, a word which means 'a protecting
cover, shrine, or box of any kind.' It corresponds
with the modern Irish comhra [cora], which is now the
544
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE.
[PART III.
usual word for a coffin* : and also with English coffer
and coffin.
When a cdmrar is over ground and formed of very
large stones, it is now commonly called a cromlech or
dolmen, both words of late introduction, and neither
of Irish origin : when underground and formed of
smaller flagstones, it is generally called a histvaen,
Fig. 207.
Great Cromlech at Kilternan. (From Wakeman's Handbook of Irish Antiquities.)
meaning ' stonechest,' a Welsh word. Many of the
kistvaens, and also some of the cromlechs, were made
much larger than was needed for the reception of a
single body : in these were interred several persons,
probably all members of the same family. The bodies
of those who fell in battle were often interred in
kistvaens and cromlechs, of which numbers are now
found on ancient battlefields.
CHAP. XXVII.] DEATH AND BURIAL. 545
A cromlech is formed of one great flat stone lying
on the tops of several large standing stones, thus
enclosing a rude chamber in which one or more
bodies or urns were placed. These cromlechs are
very numerous in all parts of Ireland, and various
theories were formerly in fashion to account for their
origin ; of which the most common was that they
were " Druids' altars," and used for offering sacrifices.
It is now, however, well known that they are tombs,
Fig. 208.
Phoenix Park Cromlech : found under a duma or burial-mound. Covering'
stone, 6l/z feet long. (From Proceedings Roy. Ir. Acad.)
which is proved by the fact that under many of them
have been found cinerary urns, calcined bones, and
sometimes entire skeletons.
Sepulchral monuments of the same class are found
all over Europe, and even in India. Some cromlechs
are formed of stones so large that to this day it
remains a puzzle how they were heaved up to their
places by people devoid of powerful mechanical
appliances. The covering stone of the cromlech at
Kiiternan, on the summit of a hill between Dublin
2 N
546 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PAKT III.
and Bray, which is figured on page 544, and which is
one of the largest of its kind in Ireland, is 23| feet
long, 17 feet broad, and 6£ feet thick. It is lifted so
high that a man can stand straight up under its
higher end.
Sometimes regularly formed cromlechs— usually
small — are found under dumas or mounds ; like that
shown in fig. 208, which still stands in its original
place in the Phoenix Park, Dublin. It was found in
the year 1838 under a large earthen tumulus which
was cleared away : several urns were dug out of the
mound ; and under the cromlech lay two human
skeletons. But, generally speaking, cromlechs, that is
to say, comrars formed of a few massive stones, were
erected in the open air, and were not covered up.
Pillar -Stones. — The various purposes for which
pillar-stones were erected have been already stated
(page 424). Here we have to do only with their
sepulchral use. All through the tales we find
mention of the head-stone or pillar-stone, called by
the names lie or lee and coirthe [curha], placed over a
grave. A usual formula to describe the burial of a
person is : — His funeral rites were performed, his
grave was dug, and his stone erected, with his name
inscribed in Ogham. In accordance with these
accounts, sepulchral pillar-stones are found all over
Ireland, some inscribed with Ogham, some not : the
inscription, as already stated, usually telling the
name of the person, with the name of his father, and
often a few other brief particulars. Perhaps the
most remarkable and interesting pillar-stone in all
Ireland belonging to pagan times is that erected over
the body of King Dathi in the cemetery of Croghan ;
CHAP. XXVII.] DEATH AND BURIAL. 547
but it bears no inscription. In later ages the pagan
pillar-stone developed into the ordinary headstone
with a Christian inscription.
Fig. 209.
King Dathi's Pillar-stone. (From Proc. Roy. Ir. Acad.)
Tombs with Christian Inscriptions. — After the
establishment of Christianity it became customary to
erect a tomb over the grave, having a flat slab on
top, especially in the cemeteries of monasteries, with
an inscription, generally in Irish, but sometimes in
Latin. In many cases the monument was a simple
inscribed pillar-stone; so that some of the head-
stones that are mentioned under the last heading-
would fall also under this.
A most interesting Christian inscribed pillar-stone,
probably the oldest in Ireland, is the headstone of
Lugnaed or Lugna [Loona], standing about two and
a half feet over ground, near the very ancient little
church of Templepatrick on the island of Inchagoill
in Lough Corrib, of which Dr. Petrie has given
a full account in his " Round Towers." It is
figured on next page from his accurate illustration
in the same book.
2n2
548
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. [PART III.
»|ltt_>
Fig. 210.— Lugnaed's headstone.
According to the ancient
narratives of the Life of
St. Patrick, his sister
Liemania had seven sons,
all of whom accompanied
the saint to Ireland, and
were settled by him in
Connaught in the neigh-
bourhood of Lough Mask.
The youngest was Lngna,
Patrick's pilot. Petrie and
O'Donovan concur in read-
ing the inscription lie
LUGNAEDON MACC LMENUEH,
"The stone of Lugnaedon
[or Lugnaed] son of
Limenueh"; and they
identify this Lugnaed with
Lugnaed, the son of
St. Patrick's sister, which
indeed — according to their
reading ■ — they could not
avoid doing, inasmuch as
— besides the local asso-
ciations— he is the only
saint of the name in all
Irish Ecclesiastical
history.
The connexion of this
stone with Lugnaed has
lately been questioned by
some, on a partial and very
narrow view of the whole
CHAP. XXVII.] DEATH AND BURIAL.
549
evidence available to us. But I think I have shown,
in another place, * that Petrie and O'Donovan were
right, and that this venerable little headstone was
really inscribed and
erected to commemo-
rate Lugnaed the son
of Liemania.
This monument may
be classed among those
remarkable corrobora-
tions of the accuracy of
Irish historical records,
of which so many
examples have been
given throughout this
book.
The Cross. — From
the very earliest period
of Christianity in Ire-
land, it was customary
to erect a cross over the
grave of a Christian ;
of which so many
notices occur, both in
the Lives of the Saints
and elsewhere, that it
is unnecessary to give
references.
Effigies. — The custom of carving effigies on tombs
was introduced by the Anglo-Normans, and was
Fig. 211.
Monument (lying flat) of Richard de Clare,
usually called Strongbow, and his wife Eva,
daughter of Dermot Mac Murrogh, king of
Leinster, in Christchurch Cathedral. Dublin.
(From Mrs. Halls Ireland.)
* Journ. of the Roy. Soc. of Antiqq. of Ireland, 190G, openinj
paper.
550
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE.
PART III.
adopted by the native Irish. But as this subject
does not fall within the scope of the present book, it
will be sufficient to give here two illustrations, one
representing the monumental effigy of an Anglo-
Norman lord, the other that of an Irish provincial
king : both" as they appear at the present day.
Fig. 212.
Tomb of Felim O'Conor, king of Connaught, in Roscommon Abbey ; died,
1265. The two figuresfat bottom, showing only the heads, are galloglasses, of
which there are eight. The rubbish has been recently cleared away, so that all
can now be seen. Two of these fine figures are fully depicted at p. 68, above.
(From Kilk. Archaeol. Journ.)
Ornament, with Inscription, on the cover of the Misach, an ancient reliquary
belonging to Inishowen. (From Miss Stokes's Christian Inscriptions.)
INDEX
N.fi. — The numbers in parentheses after names of places denote the squares
of the map where the names are to be found.
Abbey Knockmoy, 24, 160, 417.
Achilles, 54, 107.
Acta Sanctorum Hibernian, 220.
Adam and Eve Monastery, Dublin,
213.
Adamnan, 182, 183, 219, 318.
his crossj 32^.
Administration of justice, 86.
Adoption, 81.
Advocates and pleaders, 91.
Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, 214.
Adze, 446.
Aebinn or Aebill, the fairy queen,
104, no, in.
Aed mac Ainmirech, k. of Irel., 189,
335'
mac Cnffan, 211.
Ruadh, father of Queen Macha,
109, no.
Uaridneach, k. of Ireland, 272.
Aenach or Oenach, a fair : see Fairs.
Colmain or A. Life, 499, 509.
Aeneas, 103.
Aeneid, the, 103.
Aengus: see Angus.
Mac-in-Og, 108.
the Culdee, 177, 220, 221. See
Feilire and Litany.
Age of moon, 196.
Aghaboe in Queen's Co. (39), 194.
Aghagower in Mayo, 164.
Agriculture, 142, 421 and following.
Ague, 272.
Aidan, Bishop, founder of Lindis-
farne, 145, 146.
Ailech palace, now Greenan-Ely,
(6^, 308 ; described, 330.
Ailenn, palace, 332 ; described, m.
Aileran the wise, 176.
Ailill, k. of Connaught, 332, 365.
son of Laery Lore, 280, 334.
Olom, k. of Munster, 340, 341.
Aill-na-meeran at Ushnagh, 14.
A.ine, the fairy queen, no.
Aire, a chief, 77, 78, 503.
Aire-echta, a king's champion, 46.
Airmeda, the doctress, 265.
Aithech, a farmer, a peasant, 79,
84.
Alba, gen. Alban, old name of Scot-
land, 38. In Irish records, the
name is sometimes applied to the
whole of Britain (as at ^5).
Alcuin, 176.
Alder tree, 377.
Aldfrid, k. of Northumbria, 177.
Aldhelm, bishop of Sherborne, 177,
178.
Ale, 348, 349, 350- „ r
Alexander the Great, Life of, 212.
Allen, Hill of, 44, 45.
Alloys, metallic, 437.
Alphabet, 173, 183.
Alps, the, 36.
Altars, pagan, 95, 123.
Alum, 277.
Ambush in fighting, 66.
Amethysts, 401.
Amra of St. Columkille, 210.
Amulets, 123.
Amusements of people, 6 ; chap, xxv,
Ana or Anann, the goddess, 109.
Anchorites : see Hermits.
Angel, from Book of Kells, 386.
Anglesey, 35.
Anglo-Normans, 62, 67, 69, 71, 84,
159, 160, 191, 207, 234, 246, 288.
313, 340.
552
INDEX.
Anglo-Saxons, 48, 145, 174, 287, 300.
Angus, son of Ere, 37.
Animals as pets, 525.
connected with sport, 504.
Annalists, the Irish, 224.
Annals, 224, 225.
faithfulness and accuracy of,
225, 228.
principal books of, 228 to 230.
Antipbonary of Bangor, 222.
Antrim, Co" (7, 8), 38, 245.
Anvils, 441.
Apostles, the Twelve, of Erin, 139
and note.
Apples, 367.
Apprenticeship, 455.
Aran Islands (32), 177, 308.
Arch, construction of, 450.
Archery taught, 184.
Architects : see Builders.
Ardagh in Limerick, 246, 247, 249.
chalice, 246.
Ardan, s. of Usna, 39.
Ardoilen, off the Galway coast,
153.
Ard-ri, the supreme king, 15, 17.
Argonautic Expedition, translation
of, 212.
Aristocracy, marks of, 376.
Ark, Noah's, 223.
of the Covenant, 65.
Armagh (17), 128, 168, 293, 526.
Armistice at fairs, 502, 503.
Armoric : see Breton.
Armour, 58.
Arms, 49 to 62, 121.
Arrows and arrow-heads, 50.
Art and artistic work, 9 ; chap. xii.
Art the Solitary, k. of Ireland, 328.
Artistic metal -work, 246.
Artisans : see Crafts and Craftsmen.
Ass, the, 491.
Assaroe at Ballyshannon, 109.
Assicus, St. Patrick's brazier, 453.
Assonance, 216.
Astronomy, 192 to 196.
Asylum, 158.
Military Asylums, 47.
Athboy, 15, 329.
Athelstan, King, 89.
Athene, 103.
Athlone Castle, 304.
Atkinson, Dr, Robert, 215, 222.
Auger, 446.
Augustin, an Irish monk in Carthage,
, 150, 193.
Augustine, St., of Canterbury, 145,
146.
Authority of kings, 22.
Avenger of blood, 46.
Awls, 446.
Axe, or hatchet, 445, 446 : battleaxe,
56.
Axletree, 484.
Baal, the Phoenician god, 121.
Bacon and Pork, 354, 355.
Badb or Bodb, the war-fury, 112,
113,368.
Badgers, 508, 511 ; as food, 355.
skins of, 382.
Baetan, an Irish monk in Carthage,
150.
Bagpipes, 256.
Baile (bally), a homestead, a town-
land, 289, 290.
Baile-atha-cliath, Dublin, 481.
Baily Lighthouse at Howth, 329.
Baking, 362, 363.
Balaam, Balak,97.
Balances, 11, 474, 475.
Ballaghmoon in Kildare, 482.
Ballaun, a drinking-vessel, a cup-like
hollow in a stone, 318, 319.
Ballintober Abbey in Mayo, 160.
Balls of gold for the hair, 418, 419 :
balls for goaling, 513.
Ballybetagh, 375.
Ballyknockan fort, the ancient Dinn-
ree(46), 334.
Ballymagauran in Cavan, 118.
Ballymote (21), Book of, 212, 223.
Ballyshannon (9, 10), 109, no.
Ballyshiel in King's County, 267.
Balor of the mighty blows, 130.
Baltinglass (40), 333, 335.
Bananach, a female goblin, 114.
Banba, the Dedannan queen, 117.
Bangor in Co. Down U2)> 151, 175,
222.
Bann, River (7), 42.
Banners, 64.
Banqueting Hall at Tara, 289, 292,
298, 344, 371, 498 : described, 325,
326.
Banquets to men of learning, 191.
Banshee, a fairy-woman, a woman
from the fairy-hills, no, III.
Baptismal font of Clonard, 138.
Barbers and hairdressers, 377, 380.
Barclay, Alex., the poet, 347.
Bardic Schools, 180.
Barley, 426.
Barm or yeast, 362,
Barn, 299, 300.
Barrow, the river, 357.
Baths and bathing, 377.
described, 381.
Battle-axe, 56.
Battle-goblins, 112.
Bawn, a cattle enclosure, 311.
INDEX.
553
Bavaria, 163, 243.
Beads for necklaces, 294, 402.
Beal Boru near Killaloe, 339.
Beard, the, 380.
Bebinn, the female doctor, 276.
Bective Abbey in Meath, 160.
Bede, the Venerable, 37, 133, 145,
146, 178, 227, 468.
Beds and bedsteads, 301 to 305.
Beechmast, 368, 429.
Beef, 354-
Bees, 363, 364, 365.
Beestings, 361.
Beeswax, 370, 371.
Bel, an Irish idol so called, 120, 121.
Belfast, (12), 20.
Bell of Cummascach mac Ailello,
168.
of St. Patrick, or Bell of the
Will, 165, 166, 167 : see Bells.
Belle Isle in Lough Erne, 229.
Bellows, 441 to 443.
Bells, 165, 258, 430, 453.
Belltaine, May Day, 120, 123, 479.
Benedict, St., 146.
Bennaid, the female brewy, 92.
Berla Feine, the Old Irish language,
74, 198.
Bernard, the Rev. Dr., 222.
Dr., of Derry, 331.
Biatach, a public victualler, 375.
Bible, 143, 150, 202, 218.
Billhook, 446.
Binn, the female physician, 276.
Bird nets and traps, 511, 512.
Birds as food, 356.
divination from voices of, 98.
feathers of, for roofs, 293, 485.
singing, 522, 523.
Bishops, 139.
Black dye and dyestuff, 467.
Blacksmith and his forge, 440 to 444.
See Smiths.
Blackthorn, 368.
Blanid's three cows, 523.
Blemish in a king not allowable,
18.
Blinding as punishment, 90.
Blue in dyeing, 467.
Blush of shame and blush-fine, 373.
Bo-aire, a class of chief, 78, 79.
Boand, the lady, 337.
Boats, 491 to 493.
Bobbio in Italy, 222.
Bocanach, a male goblin, 114.
Bodb Derg, the fairy-king, 106, 108.
Bodleian Library at Oxford, 214.
Body-fine, compensation for homi-
cide, 89.
Bog-butter, 360.
Bogs, 3, 369, 432.
Bohereen or boreen, a little road,
481.
Bonnaght, a soldier serving for pay,
47-
Bookbinding, ^o, 453, 470.
Book of Acaill, 73, 275.
of Armagh, 198, 242.
of Armagh described, 218.
of Ballymote, 212, 223.
of Cuana, 209.
of Dimma, 218.
of Durrow, 242.
of Fermoy, 213.
of Genealogies, 232.
of Hy Many, 213.
of Hymns, 222.
of Invasions, 212.
of Kells, 143, 218, 240, 242,377,
378.
of Lecan, 213.
of Lecan, Yellow, 212.
of Leinster, 208, 211.
of Lismore, 213.
of Mac Durnan, 241, 242.
of Rights, 480, 493, 495.
of St. Moling, 218.
of the Dun Cow, 198, 208, 209,
210, 211.
of the O'Hickeys, 270.
of the O'Lees, 270.
of the O'Shiels, 270.
Book-satchels, 206.
Books, destruction of, 206.
in pagan times, 169, 171, 172.
of law, 73.
— *• of medicine, 268, 269, 270.
of mixed subjects, 208.
Booleying and booleys, 431, 432.
Borreen brack or barn brack, a
speckled cake, 362.
Borrowing and lending, 519.
Boru or Boroma tribute, 124, 211,
237-
Boundaries between territories, 422.
Bow and arrow, 50.
Boycott in ancient times, 88.
Boyle in Roscommon (21), 230.
Boyne, the river (29), 13, 357.
Bracelets : see Rings.
Bracteate coins, 476.
Bran, son of Febal, 107, 108, 126.
Branch of peace, 504.
Branduff, k. of Leinster, 335, 353.
Brasiers and founders, 437.
Brass, 434, 435, 437-
Bray in Wicklow, 481.
Bread, 362, 363.
Breccan, grandson of Niall 9H.,492.
Breeches, 391, 488.
Brehon, a judge, 71, 89, 90.
Laws, 11, 25, chap, iv., 268.
554
INDEX.
Brendan, St., of Clonfert, the Navi-
gator, 492, 526.
Breton or Arraoric language, -197,
198, 109, 200.
Brewers, 350.
Brewy, a keeper of a house of public
hospitality, 19, 92, 305, 311, 353,
35V8l'-K A
described, 373.
Brian Boru, 26, 30, 288.
"Brian Boru's harp," 255.
Bricriu, of the venom tongue, 39.
Bride, purchased for bride-price, 283,
284.
Bridges, 4, 482, 483.
Bridles, 488, 489.
Brigh Brugaid, the female lawyer,
286.
Brigit, the pagan goddesses of that
name, 109.
Brigit, St., of Kildare, 144, 154, 220,
453-
Bristol, 80.
Britain, 33, 34, 95, 135, 144, 146, 149,
172, 177, 245, 292, 477, 492: see
England.
British or Britannic languages, 197.
■ Museum, 213, 214, 400.
Britons, 33, 37, 135, i77, 290, 348,
468.
Bioinbherg, the hospital of Emain,
273-
Bronze, 434, 435, 437, 439, 440, 448,
449-
Broo or Bro at New Grange, 538.
Brooches, 39T, 413, 414, 415.
Brooklime, 366.
Broth, 355.
Bruden Da Choga, 113.
Da Derga : see Da Derga.
Brugh, a great house, 306.
on the Boyne, 108.
Bruree (44), royal residence, 340,
34i-
Buffoons and jesters, 501, 516, 517.
Builders, 435, 436.
Building, 289 to 300; 435, 436, 444.
Buildings and other material church
requisites, 155 to 168.
Bunne-do-at, a sort of open ring,
411,412,413,477.
Bunting and his music, 262.
Burial, modes of, 534.
- — mounds, 538, 539 to 545.
Burning the dead : see Cremation.
Burns, Robert, 527.
Butlers (the family), 69.
Butter, 359, 360, 492.
Buttevant Abbey, 160.
Buttons, 391, 392, 402.
Byzantium, 242, 244.
Cabbage or Kale, 366.
Caelchon, the Munster chief, 326.
Caher, a circular stone fort, 306, 308,
309.
Caher in Tipperary (51), 339, 340.
Caherconree (49), 42.
Caher-crofinn at Tara, 323.
Cahirmore, k. of Ireland, 510.
Cailte mac Rcnain, 43, 276.
Cakes, 362, 363.
Caldrons, 352, 353, 440.
Calendar, the, 193.
Calendars, 220.
Caman, a hurling-stick, hurling, 513.
Cambrai, 200.
Camden, 29.
Camin, St., of Inishcaltra, 272.
Campion, Edmund, 504.
Cancer (disease), 272.
Candles and candlesticks, 370, 371.
Canoes, 491 to 493.
Cape for shoulders, 385, 389.
Capital punishment, 89, 90.
Caps and hats, 395.
Carbery Baskin, and Carbery Muse,
37-
of the Liffey, king of Ireland,
King Cormac mac Art's son, 24,
44-
Kinncat, k. of Ireland, 72.
Riada or Reuda, 37, 227.
Carbury Hill and Castle in Kildare
(29, 35), 336.
Cardiganshire, 35.
Cardinal points, 526.
Carding wool, 462.
Carlingford peninsula, 235.
Carlow Castle (40), 311.
Carlsruhe, 200.
Carman, fair of, 493, 495, 500.
Carmichael, Alexander, 261.
Cam, a heap, a monumental heap of
stones, 106.
Carnarvon, 35.
Carnfree, the O'Conors' inaugura-
tion mound, 22.
Cams in Roscommon, 22.
Carolan, the harper, 254.
his music, 262.
Carpenters, 437, 444.
Carrickfergus Castle (12), 296.
Carrick-on-Suir, 482.
Carrigcleena, near Mallow (50), no,
in.
Carrots, 366.
Cars and carts, 486.
Carthage, 150.
Carving and Carvers, 445.
Cashel, a circular stone-fortifica-
tion, 112, 306, 309.
in Tipperary,'(45), 160, 337, 493.
INDEX.
555
Castledermot church window, 452.
high cross of, 255.
Castles, 291, 296, 297, 304, 311, 312,
Castletown Moat, 39, 40.
Cat, the, 508.
Catalogue of Irish saints, 135 and
following pages ; 153.
Cathach, or " battler," a conse-
crated relic, 64.
of the O'Donnells, 65, 218.
Cathbad the druid, 100.
Cattle as a standard of value, 477.
Causeways, 483.
Cavalry, 67.
Cavan, Co. (22, 23), 16.
Ceile, a free rent-paying tenant, 79,
84,85.
Celestine, Pope, 133.
Celt, a sort of axe, 32, 57.
Celtar, a cloak of invisibility, 103.
Celtic languages, 197, 198.
Celts, the, 32, 64, 95, 122, 125, 245,
292, 204, 465.
Cemeteries, 497.
described, 537.
Cenobitical monasteries, 140.
Cethern of the brilliant deeds, 42,
65-
Chain of silence or of attention,
5<H-
Chalice, the Ardagh, 246.
Chalk used on shields, 60.
Champion, the king's, 27, 46.
Charcoal, 369, 370, 438, 441, 444.
Chariots and charioteers, 4, 42, 43,
45-
described, 483 to 486,
Chariot-racing, 510.
Charlemagne, 194, 227, 242.
Charms and spells, 102, 103, 104.
Chase and capture of wild animals,
510 and following.
Chastity and modesty prized, 284.
Cheese, 360, 361.
Chess, 29.
described, 314.
taught, 184.
Chiefs and nobles, 18, 19, 77, 91.
Children of Lir, story of, 237.
Children, position of, 285, 286, 287,
520.
Chimneys, 298.
China, great wall of, 424.
Chisels, 448. 4
Chivalr}', 65.
Christchurch, Dublin, 549.
Christianity, chap. vi.
Chronicon Scotorum, 230.
Churches and monastic buildings,
155 to 163.
Churns, 318.
Cimbaeth, k. of Ireland, 330.
Circular gold plates, 413.
Cities and- towns, 6, 290.
Clann children, a group of relations
supposed to be descended from a
common ancestor, 81.
Clannaboy, or Clandeboye, 20.
Clapping of hands in divination,
99.
Clare County (37, 38), 16, 406.
Classes of Irish Music, 259.
■ of kings, 17.
of people, five main, 77.
of Tales, 233, 234.
Classification of Irish Literature,
214.
of upper garments, 384.
Claudian, the Roman poet, 35, 34.
Claymore, a great sword, 55.
Cleena, the fairy queen, no, in.
Cloak of darkness, 103.
Cloaks, 385 to 388 ; 391.
Clochan, a beehive- shaped hut, 153,
290.
Clod-mallet, 427.
Clogher in Tyrone, 120.
Clonard in Meath (29), 138, 175, 182,
482.
Clonmacnoise (34), 161, 176, 209,229,
230, 486, 495.
Clonroad near Ennis, 339.
Clontarf (36), Battle of, 67, 104, 113,
207, 226.
Cloon-O, 99.
Clowns, 29, 501.
Coal, 302, 441.
Coal-mines, 441.
Cobthach the Slender, k. of Ireland,
280, 334.
Cockles used in dyeing, 468.
Cognisance on shields, 60.
Cogue, a drinking-cup, 317.
Coinage, coins, n, 476.
Coir Anmann, 232.
Coleraine (7), 42.
Colgan, the Kev. John, 220.
Colic, 272.
Collas, the Three, 330.
Collar of Moran, 128.
Colleges : see Schools.
Colloquy of the Ancient Men, 237.
Colman, bishop of Lindisfarne, 146,
178.
St., of Cloync, 271.
St., of Templeshanbo, 526.
Colonisations by Irish, 32.
Colours of garments, 7, 383, 385.
Coltsfoot, 370.
Columbanus, St., 151, 176.
Columb's house at Kells, 140.
556
INDEX.
Colunikille or Columba, St., 65, 122,
140, 143, 144, 145, 146, 163, 183, 189,
219, 220, 222, 518, 526.
Combs, 379.
Comgall, St., of Bangor, 175.
Comgan or Mac da Cherda, 522.
Commentaries on Law, 74.
Commerce, n, 494, 495-
Committee of Nine for Br. Laws, 73.
Common descent from an ancestor,
80, 81.
Commons land, 83, 429, 431.
Communication by water, 491 to 493.
Compasses (for circles), 446.
Compensation, Law of, 86, 87, 88.
Comrar, a stone coffin or cist, 543,
544-
Conall Cernach, 39, 114, 377-
son of Blathmac, 457.
Conan Mael, 43.
Conari or Conaire the Great, k. of
Ireland, 28, 31, 99, 131, 211, 516,
the Second, k. of Ireland, 37.
Concobar mac Nessa, 27, 39, 100,
115, 235, 276, 329.
Condiment, 357.
Confession of St. Patrick, 34, 154,
218.
Congal Claen, prince of Ulster, 357.
Conleth, St., bishop of Kildare, 453.
Conn the Hundred Fighter, or of the
Hundred Battles, k. of Ireland,
113, 210.
Connaught, 13, 16, 122, 165, 235.
extent of, anciently, 13, 16.
Connla the Comely, story of, 210,
2X1.
Conquests of Irish, 32.
Consumption (illness), 272.
Conventions and fairs, 326, 496, 497.
Convents and nuns in Ireland, 153.
Convulsions (illness), 272.
Cooks and Cooking, 351, 501.
Cooley, the Carlingford peninsula,
235.
Copenhagen, 147.
Copper, 434, 435, 437.
Copperas as medicine, 277.
Core, k. of Munster, 337.
Corcomroe Abbey in Clare, 160.
Cork (56), 356.
Cormac mac Art, king, 24, 26, 43, 44,
92, 115, 132, 310, 324, 325, 327, 342,
344>36i,456.
Cormac Mac Cullenan, 201, 230.
Cormac's chapel at Cashel, Pref.
xxiv; 158.
Cormac's Glossary, 201, 230.
Corn (grain), its preparations, 361,
362, 426, 427.
Cornish language, 197, 198, 200.
Corn-mills, 456.
Corn-ricks, 427.
Cornwall, 435.
Coroticus, Patrick's epistle to, 154.
Corpse, rights of a, 531, 532.
branch-covering for, 534.
Corrody, paid maintenance in a
monastery, 520.
Corrievreckan, 493 and note.
Costume illustrated, 378, 386, 387,
389,390, 391,393.
Cottage industries, 10, 463, 466.
Couches, 301 to 305.
Coursing with hounds, 510.
Court officers of kings, 25.
Courts of Justice, 5, 90.
Cow-herds, 430.
Cowl, 389.
Cows, 428.
as a standard of value, 477.
Coyne and livery, 85.
Craftsmen, social position and pro-
tection of, 452 to 455.
Craglea or Crageevill, near Killaloe
(38), no, in, 338.
Crane or heron, 357.
for lifting, 447.
Crannoge, an insulated dwelling,
Creeveroe, at Emain, 330.
Cremation, 534, 535, 536.
Cremation-ashes thrown into water,
506.
Crescents, gorgets, and necklets, 404
to 410.
Cridenbel, the satirist, 280.
Criffan the Great, k. of Irel. (a.d. 366
to 379), 33,34-
Criffan, son of Cahirmore, 510.
Crimson, in dyeing, 467.
Crofton Croker's Fairy Legends, 342.
Croghan, palace of (21, 22), 112, 235,
300, 455,497,498.
described, 331.
Cromlechs, 543 to 546.
Croinm Cruach, the idol, 118, 119,
205-
Croom or Crom in Limerick (44), 69.
Crops, 426.
Crosiers, 453.
Cross of Cong, 246, 247, 249, 250.
Cross placed over graves, 549.
Crossan, a gleeman, 516, 517.
Crosses, 249, 416, 485, 486.
Crown or diadem, 25, 415, 416, 417.
Cualann, district of (36), 481.
Cuan O'Lochain, 321.
Cuculainn, 39, 48, 49, 59, 114, 115,
126, 196, 235, 277, 303, 418, 484.
Cuilmen, a great book, 209.
INDEX.
557
Cullen in Tipperary, 450.
Cummascach mac Ailello, his bell,
168.
Cummian or Cummain Fota, St., 176,
222.
Cupping and cupping-horn, 276.
Curath-mir, ' the champion's bit,'
114, 345-
Curds, 360, 361.
Curoi mac Daire, 42.
Cuiragh of Kildare, 333.
fair and races of, 499, 5°9> 510-
Curraghs or wicker boats, 471, 491,
402.
Cuthbert, St., 145.
Cutts Waterfall on the Bann, 40.
Cycles, astronomical and chrono-
logical, 193, 194-
of Historical Tales, 234.
Cyclopean building, 308.
Da Derga and his hostel, 99, 131,
211, 212, 237.
Dagda, the, a Dedannan god, 108,
115, 280.
Dagger, 56, 67.
Dagobert, k. of France, 177.
Daire or Dare, king of Ulster in
St. Patrick's time, 526.
Dalaradia (8, 12, 18), 64.
Dalcassians, the O'Briens, inhabit-
ing Clare, 16, 22, in.
Dalian Forgaill, the poet, 210.
Dalriada, also called Dalreudini (7,
8), 37, 38.
Daiteen, an attendant on a horse
soldier, 67.
Dam in a stream, 513.
Dana or Danann, the goddess, 109.
Danaus, k. of the Argives, 426.
Dancing, 501.
Danes, 59, 71, 116, 162, 195, 206, 227,
234, 458: see Scandinavians and
Norsemen.
" Danish " forts and raths, 312.
Dathi, king of Ireland, 36.
his pillar-stone, 546.
David and Goliath, 50.
Davies, Sir John, 72, 86.
Death and burial, chap, xxvii.
Death-bell, 532.
De Berminghams, the, 337.
de Courcy, John, 27, 42, 312.
Dedannans, in Irish Tuatha de
Danann, 31, 53, 105, 109, no, 112,
115,117, 130,235,331.
Deer, 428, 506, 507, 511.
Dega, St., the artificer, 453.
Degads or Clanna Degad, 42.
Degrees in Irish colleges, 180.
Deirdre, Naisi's wife, 376.
Dela, five sons of, 13.
de Lacy, Hugh, the elder, 291, 311.
Delphi, oracle of, 101.
Demons, 114, 117, 121.
Dermot and Grainne's beds : see
Cromlechs.
Dermot Mac Murrogh, k. of Leiuster,
58, 211.
OTtyna, 43, 327.
(son of Fergus), k. of Ireland,
321.
Derryloran in Tyrone, 275.
Descent of land, 85.
Designs in embroidery, 470.
Desiol, turning sunwise, 65, 127, 128.
Desmond or South Munster (48, 55,
56, 51), 16, 18, 69.
Destitution provided for, 520.
Destruction of books, 206.
Devenish Island (16), round tower of,
162, 451.
Diadem, 410, 415, 416.
Dialects of Celtic, 197.
Diancecht, the leech-god, 264, 265.
Diarrhoea, 272.
Dicuil, St., and his holy well at Lure,
151-
the Irish Geographer, 149, 195.
Dillesk, dulse, or duilesc, 367.
Dingle in Kerry (48), 468.
Dinner, 343.
Dinnree or Dinnrigh (46), 332, 333.
Dinnsenchus, 119, 211, 212, 232.
Dioscorides, the physician, 348.
Diseases, 270.
Distaff, 463.
Distress, and procedure by, 87, 503.
Divination and diviners, 98, 101.
Division of Ireland, 13 to 17.
Do-at, two knobs or discs, 410, 411,
412.
Dodder, the river, 481.
Dog, 504.
divination from howling of, 99.
Domestic vessels, 314.
Domnall (son of Aed mac Ain-
mirech), 384, 518.
Donegal (5, 6), 144, 230.
Donn (son of Milesius), fairy king of
Knockfierna, no.
Donnybrook, 481.
Donogh, son of King Blathmac, 457.
Doon, Rock of, 22.
Doonglara, royal residence, 340.
Doorkeeper, 296.
Dooros-Heath, 448, 449.
Down, Downpatrick (18), 30, 41.
Dowry (in marriage), 283.
Dowth on the Poyne, 537.
Dragons in lakes, 524.
558
INDEX.
Draughts (the game), 516.
Drawingroom, 300.
Drayton's Polyolbion quoted, 253.
Dress, 7, 382, and following pages.
Dressmaking, 469, 470.
Drink, various kinds of, described,
348- ,
Drinking-horn, 315.
Drinking-vessels, 295, 314, 318.
Drink of forgetfulness, 97.
Dripping, 356.
Drisheen, a sort of pudding, 356.
Drogheda, 249, 290.
Drowes, river (9), 13.
Drowning as a punishment, 90.
Druidesses, 100, 101.
Druids and druidism, 95 to 102 ; 122,
129, 137, 139, 169, 179, 180, 318.
Irish and Gaulish compared,
101.
" Druids' altars," 545.
Drumcliff, near Sligo (15), 163.
Drumketta, Ir. Druim-Cete, 189,
518.
Drunkenness reprehensible, 348.
Dublin (36), 245, 290, 435, 481, 482,
483.
Duilech, St., of St. Doulogh's, 156.
Duma, a mound, a burial-mound, 540
to 543.
Duma na Bo at Tara, 325.
Duma-nan-Giall or Mound of the
Hostages at Tara, 324.
Dun, a fortified residence, 306, 307.
Dun Aengus on Aran Island (32),
308, 309, 329-
Dunbolg(4o),335, 353.
Dunbrody Abbey in Wexford, 160.
Dun-Cethern, 42.
Duncriffan at Howth, 329.
Dun-da-benn, now Mountsandall,
39-
Dundalgan near Dundalk (23, 24),
39, 40.
Dundrum Castle (18), 42, 312.
Dungal, the Irish monk, 194, 222.
Dun-keltair near Downpatrick, 39,
41.
Dunlang O'Hartigan, 104.
Dunlavin in Wicklow, 336.
Dun-nan-ged, Feast of, 113, 357.
Dunnasciath, royal residence, 329.
Dun-Rury, now Dundrum, in Down
(18), 42, 312.
Dunseverick in Antrim, 329, 481.
Duns Scotus, 176.
Dunstan, St., 143, 14;;, 195.
Dun-Torgeis, near Castlepollard,
329-
Durrow in King's County (34), high
cross of, 416.
Dwelling-houses : see House.
D}-eing, 466.
the eyebrows, 377.
the eyelids, 148.
the finger-nails, 376.
peasants' knowledge of, 469.
Dysert- Aengus in Limerick, 221.
Eadfrid, bishop of Lindisfarne, 177.
Eagles, 4, 99.
Early rising, 432.
Earrings, 417, 418.
Ecclesiastical and religious writings,
217.
schools, 174 to 184.
Eclipses, 194, 195, 226.
Ecliptic, the, 195.
Education, chap. vii.
among the lay community, 179.
in fosterage, 184, 287.
Educational poems, 184.
test for admission to the Fena,
43-
Edward I., 358.
— - HI-, 354-
Eels, 512.
Eevinn or Eevill, the banshee, 104,
no, in.
Effigies on monuments, 549, 550.
Eggs as food, 357.
Eginhard the Annalist, 227.
Egyptian monks in Ireland, 177.
Elder or boortree, 377.
Election of kings, 18, 19.
Elegy, 533. .
Elements, worship of, 95, 121.
Elk, the Irish, 506, 507.
Emain, Emain Macha, or Emania
(17), 27, 39, 109, 132, 229, 273, 298,
310,455,481,497,498.
described, 329.
Embroidery, 470, 501.
Emeralds, 401.
Emetics, 276.
Enamel and enamel work, 245, 246,
316.
Encampments, 6$.
Endymion by Keats, 522.
England and English, 59, 85, 144, 295,
298, 305, 307. 347 : see Britain.
Engravers, 445.
Ennis Abbey (38), 160.
Envoy or herald, 63.
Eoghan M6r, k. of Munster, 113.
Equestrians, 501 : see Horse-riding.
Equinoctial and equinoxes, 193.
Ere, bishop of Slane, and his hermi-
tage, 137, 328, 357- ,
Concobar's grandson, 518.
Eremitical monasteries, 152, 153, 154.
INDEX.
559
Eremon, k. of Ireland, 227.
Eric, a compensation fine, 88 : see
Compensation.
Eric of Auxerre, 147.
Erysipelas, 272.
Esaia or Isaiah the prophet, 241.
Esau, 355-
Esker Riada, 482 and note.
Ethicus of Istria, 171, 173.
Evangelist, figure of, 387.
Eviction from house and land un-
known, 85.
Evidence in court of law, 91.
Evil eye, 130, 131.
Exchange, mediums of, 475.
Extempore composition, 186.
Eyebrows and eyelids, dyeing of, 148,
377-
Face, shape of, 376.
Facsimiles of Irish mss., 212, 213.
Fairies, 105 and following pp. ; 210,
280.
Fairs, 6, 7, 90, 496 to 504.
Fairyland, 102, no, 125, 310.
Fairy Palace of the Quicken Trees,
Story of, 237.
Fairy palaces, 105, 106.
Faithche, a lawn, an exercise green,
3io, 31T.
Falcons, 4.
Family, the, 80, 283.
Family names, 288.
Faraday, Miss Winifred, 236.
Farm animals, 428 to 430.
implements, 427.
life, 432.
Faroe Islands, 150.
Fasting, legal procedure by, 88.
Fe, an aspen-rod for measuring
bodies and graves, 534.
Feast of Bricriu, 114, 211.
Feathers for beds, 303.
for ornamental roofs, 293.
for chariot awnings, 485.
Fechin, St., 153-
Fe-Fiada, 103, 104, 112.
Feilire of Oengus, or Aengus, 212,
220.
Feine, Fene, a ceile or free rentpayer,
a farmer, 71, 79.84, 198.
Feis or Fes, a meeting, festivity, or
convention, 91, 497-
Feis of Tara, 326, 497, 498.
Felim O'Conor, k. of Connaught, his
tomb, 68, 550.
Female physicians, 268.
Fena of Erin (Irish Fianna), 38, 43,
44, 45, =35, 236, 377, 5™-
how they cooked, 351.
Fences, 83, 421, 422.
Fenechas, the ancient Irish law, 71.
Ferdiad, the champion, 42, 303.
Ferdomnach, the scribe, 218, 219.
Fergil the Geometer, 176.
Fergus mac Leide, k. of Ulster, 116.
Mor, or Fergus mac Ere, 37, 38.
mac Roy, 39.
Ferleginn, chief professor, principal
of a school or college, 178, 228.
Ferryboats, 4, 143.
Fer-side [Fershee], a male fairy, no.
Festilogies, 220.
Fiacha, King, 425.
Fiacha Muillethan, k. of Munster,
342, 522.
Fibula: see Bunne-do-at.
Fiddle, 501.
Fidnemed, a sacred grove, 159.
Fili or file, a poet, a philosopher, 187.
Fillet for the forehead, 415.
Finachta the Festive, k. of Ireland,
182, 183.
Finan or Finnen of Lindisfarne, 146,
178.
Findabair, the princess, 365*
Findruine, white bronze, 391, 437,
438.
Fine, a group of persons related to
each other, 81.
Fingal Ronain, story of, 237.
Finger-nails, 376.
Finnbarr, St., of Cork, 153.
Finnchua, or Findchua, Saint, ot
Brigown, 284.
Finnen or Finnian of Clonard, 138,
139, 175-
of Moville, 127.
Finn mac Cumail, 43, 44, 127, 236,
327-
mac Gorman, 211.
Finntan, nephew of Parthalon, 127.
Firbolgs, 13, 31, 52, 112.
Fire festival, 123.
perpetual, at Kildare and else-
where, 143, 144.
worship, 123.
Firewood or firebote, 369.
Fish as food, 357.
Fishing, 512.
nets and spears for, 512.
weirs for, 513.
Fitzgerald, Gilbert, 159.
Fitz Geralds, the, 69.
Five items of common knowledge,
196.
roads leading from Tara, 328,
480, 481, 482.
ways of holding land, 82.
Fixity of tenure, 85.
Flag in battle, 64.
560
INDEX.
Flail, 427.
Flaith, a noble, 18, 77, 78, 79.
Flatiti of Monasterboice, 228.
Flavianus the Roman, 504.
Flax and its preparation, 465.
Flesc, a sort of bracelet, 78.
Fleshfork, 353, 354-
Fleshmeat and its accompaniments,
354- ,
Flint and steel, 370.
Flint workshop, 450.
Floors, how covered, 305.
Flour and meal, 362.
Flux for metals, 438.
Fog, the magic, 103.
Foillan, St., 252.
Food, 343 to 368.
in monasteries, 141, 343.
provision for, during battle, 66.
Fools, 29, 516.
Foot-races, 510.
wear, 396.
Fords, 4, 5.
Foreign expeditions, 8, 32.
merchants in Ireland, 501.
missions, 139, 144 a.nd following
pages ; 147 and following pages.
students in monastic schools,
176.
Forge, 440 to 444.
Forks and knives at meals, 346, 347.
Formenius or Parmenius, 36.
Forrad or Forradh at Tara, 323, 324.
Fortchern, St. Patrick's smith, 453.
Forts of various kinds, 306 and
following pages.
Fosterage, 286, 288, 509.
Foster-child's duty to foster-parents,
287, 520.
Founders and brasiers, 437.
Four Masters, the, 230.
Fowling, 511, 512.
Foxes, 4.
skins, 382.
France, n, 149, 487.
Franciscan monastery of Adam and
Eve, Dublin, 213.
Franks, 135, 290, 405.
Fraughans or whortleberries, 368.
Freemen, 77, 78, 79, 91.
Free circuits of kings, 23.
Frieze, 388.
Frock or jacket, 388, 389.
Frogs in Ireland, 524.
Froissart's account of knighthood,
48.
Fruit and fruit-trees, 337.
Fudir, an unfree tenant, 85, 91, 307.
Fuel, 369.
Fulling and fullers, 462, 464.
Funeral feast, 532, 534.
Funeral games, 497, 532.
obsequies, 532.
Furnace, 443, 444.
Furniture, 298 to 305.
Furs, 382.
Fursa, St., of Peronne, 252.
Gaelic language, 181, 197, 198.
Gaels, 35, 105.
Galloglass, a heavy-armed foot-
soldier, 27, 68.
Galway (32), 482.
Game for hunting, 511.
Gamanraide of Connaught, 42.
Gap of danger, 46.
Garland of Howth, 242.
Garlic, 366.
Garnets, 401.
Garters, 394.
Gaul, 34, 36, 95, 295.
Gaulish druids, 95, 101, 102.
gods, 104.
language, 198.
workshops, ancient, 450.
Gauls, 105, 119, 125, 177, 306, 345,
404, 484, 485.
Gavelkind, 83, 86.
Gavra, Battle of, 45.
Geese, 357.
Geis, a prohibition, a thing for-
bidden, 131.
Genealogies, 212, 232.
Geniti-glinni, sprites of the valley,
114.
Geometry studied by Irish, 194, 195.
Geraldines, the, 69.
Germans, 177.
Germany, 149.
Gertrude, daughter of Pepin, 252.
Giants' graves : see Cromlech.
Giant's Sconce near Coleraine, 42.
Gibeah, slingers of, 49. .
Gilla, modern giolla, a boy, a gillie
or attendant, 67.
Giraldus Cambrensis, 57, 58, 80, 125,
242, 252.
Girdles, 370, 391, 394.
Glaisin, woad for dyeing, 92.
Glandore in Cork (59), III.
Glannagalt in Kerry, 97.
Glasnevin near Dublin, 175, 181.
Glass, 294, 295.
Glastonbury, 145, I95>
Gleemen, 516,517.
Glossaries, 201.
Glosses, iq8, 211.
described, 199.
Gloves, 394, 395.
Goad, 427, 490.
INDEX.
561
Goaling or hurling, 513.
Goats, 355.
Gobban Saer, the architect, 436.
St., 175.
Goblins, 104 and following pp. ; 113,
God, names for, 104.
Gods, pagan, 95, 101, 104.
Goibniu, the Dedannan smith-god,
325,435,44°-
Goidels or Gaels, 35.
Goidelic or Gaelic language, 197.
Gold, 9, 244, 399, 476, 477, 501.
in Ireland and England com-
pared, 400, 420.
mines, 245.
and silver as mediums of ex-
change, 476, 477, 478.
balls lor hair, 418, 419.
objects in Nat. Museum, List
of, 420.
Golden Vale, the, 337.
Goldsmiths, 437, 449.
Goliath, 463.
Goll mac Morna, 43.
Good People, i.e. fairies, 107.
Gordon, Bernard, the physician, 270.
Gorgets, 404 to 410.
Goshawks, 4.
Gospels, 217, 240, 242, 243.
Gossipred. 287.
Gougane Barra in Cork (55), 153,
154-
Gouge (a carpenter s), 448, 449.
Gout in the hands, 272.
Government by kings, chap. ii.
Grainne, d. of Cormac mac Art, 327.
Grain -rubber, 461.
Grammars, Ancient Irish, 201.
Grammatica Celtica of Zeuss, 200,
201.
Granard (22), 119.
Graves and graveyards, 534 to end.
Gravy, 356.
Grazing, 431, 432.
Grazing animals, classification of,
431-
Greaves (for legs), 59.
Greek and Roman writers on Ire-
land, 494.
Greek language in monastic schools,
175, 180, 181.
Greeks, 23, 54, 64, 97, 238, 260, 264,
265, 276, 283, 308, 345, 347, 377, 425,
450,500,502.
Green as a national colour, 384.
Greenan, a summer-house, 293, 300.
Greenan Lachtna, palace, 338.
Greenan -Ely, 331 : see Ailech.
Grey Abbey in Down, 160.
Greyhounds, 505.
Grian of the Bright Cheeks, in.
Griffith, Sir Richard, 434.
Grinding corn, chap. xxi.
Grindstone, 449.
Groom, the chief's or king's, 29.
Ground colour in dyeing, 466.
Groups of society, 80.
Gryffith ap Conan, k. of Wales, 252.
Guaire the Hospitable, 304.
Guest-house of monastery, 142.
Guests, 373.
order of, at table, 343, 344.
Haggard, 6, 311, 427.
Hair and hair dressing, 377 to 380;
418.
Hallowe'en or All Hallows night,
112.
Halter (for animals), 427.
Hammer, 441, 447.
Handel's Harmonious Blacksmith,
260.
Handicrafts taught, 184 : see Crafts.
Hands, clapping of, in divination, 99.
well-shaped, 376.
Handstone as a weapon, 49.
Hanging as a punishment, 90.
Hare, the, 4, 508.
Harlots, 517.
Harmony in Irish music, 260.
Harp, 251 254, 255, 256, 257, 501
Harpers, Irish, 251 to 257.
travelling through Scotland, 263.
Hash or pottage, 355.
Hat or cap, 395.
Hatchet or axe, 445, 446.
Haughton, the Rev. Samuel, 226.
Hawks, 4.
Hazel and hazel-nuts, 100, 102, 367.
Head laid on bosom as a salutation,
518.
Head-gear, 395.
Headstones, 547, 548, 549.
Healy, the Most Rev. Dr., 137.
Heaven, the pagan, 124, 509.
Hebrews, 527.
Hebrides, the, 69, 512.
Hell-gate of Ireland, 112.
Helmet, 59.
Hennessy, W. M., 342.
Henry II., 357.
VIII., 139.
Heptarchy, the, 30.
Herald, 63.
Herb- doctors, 280.
Herb-garden, 6, 365.
Herbs in medicine, 265, 277, 280.
popular knowledge of, 280.
Herding and herdsmen, 432.
Heremon, first Milesian king, 120.
Hermits, Irish, 136, 152, 153.
2o
562
INDEX.
Herons, 357.
Hiberi, Hiberni, i.e. the Irish, 348.
Hides and skins, 382, 383.
used for beds, 303.
as tablecloths, 347.
exported, 495.
used for curraghs, 491, 492.
High crosses, 249, 416, 485, 486.
Hired soldiers, 47.
Historian : see Shanachie.
Histories of Ireland, 231.
History of music, 251.
Hobbies and hobellers, 487.
Holed-stones, 423, 424.
Holyhead, 35.
Holy Island, in Lough Derg, 8.
wells : see AVells.
Homer, 54, 64.
Homestead, 298, 299.
Homicide, 89, 90.
Honey, 350, 351, 362.
treated of, 363.
Honours and rewards for learning,
190.
Hood (for head), 387, 389, 305.
Hoops and hooped vessels, 314.
Hornblowing as a trade-signal, 464,
465.
Horncastlc's Irish Music, 262.
Horns, 257, 501.
for drinking, 315.
Horse and foot, 67.
Horse-riding, 4, 487 to 490; 501, 510.
Horse-rod for guiding, 489, 490.
Horses, 29, 487.
■ and stables, keeper of, 29.
Horse-shoeing, 490.
Horsewhip, 490.
Hospitalia (Irish) on the Continent,
. 375-
Hospitality, 5, 372, 373.
Hospitals, 279.
Hostages, 22, 325.
Hostels, public, 4, 187.
described, 372.
Hot-air bath, 277.
Hounds, 504, 505, 506.
House, the, chap. xvi.
builders of, 5.
of manuscripts, 205.
steward, 28.
Household of kings, 25.
Howth (36), 329.
Human sacrifice, 102, 119.
Hunting, 3, 377, 504, 505, 506, ^07,
508, 510, and following pages.
Hurling or goaling, 513.
Hurts or whortleberries, 368.
Husband and wife, 283 to 286.
Hy Many, 18.
Hymns, 222.
I-Brazil, the enchanted island, 124.
Iceland, 149.
Ictian Sea, the English Channel, y0.
Idol, idols, 95, 118.
Ierne and Iernis, Ireland, 494.
Illumination of mss., 238 to 244; 454.
Immortality of the soul, 102, 125.
Inauguration of kings, 19, 324.
Incantations, 97, 129, 265.
Inchagoill, in Lough Corrib,547.
India and Indians, 88, 527.
Industrial education, 184, 287.
Industries : see Trades and Indus-
tries.
Ingcel the marauder, 99.
Inishcaltra (38), 8.
Inishmurray off Sligo coast (15), 144,
153, 279.
Ink and ink-horn, 203.
Innisfallen island and college, 229.
Insanity, 96, 97.
Inscriptions, 546, 547, 548, 549.
tombs with, 547.
Interest on loans, 519.
Interior arrangements of house, 300
to 305.
Intermarriages between Irish and
British, 35.
Intoxication, 348.
Inver Colpa, 13.
Iona (island), 143, 144, 145, 146, 183,
219.
Irish language and literature, chap.
viii.
modern students of, 202.
Irish music, chap. xiii.
collections of, 262.
musicians as teachers, 252.
Iron, 434.
Isaiah the prophet, 241.
Isle of Man, 36, 108 : see Manx.
Isthmian games of Greece, 499, 502,
503.
Italy and Italians, 149, 163, 244, 295.
Jacob, the patriarch, 355.
James I., 86.
Jameson, a Scotch writer, 252.
Javelin, 67.
Jerpoiht in Kilkenn)', 160.
Jesters, jugglers, and gleemen, 29,
5i6.
Jet, 402. _
Jewels, jewellery, 10, 29, 401, 402,
501.
Jews, 65, 130.
John, King, and his castle, Limerick,
297.
Scotus Erigena, 176.
INDEX.
563
Joints (meat), distributed according
to rank, 345.
Jones, Dr., bishop of St. David's,
35-
Judges : see Brehon and Brehon
Laws.
Judgments in form of maxims and
illustrations, 91, 92.
Jugglers, 29, 501, 516, 517.
Justice, administration of, 86 to 92.
Kale, 366.
Kavanagh, Art Mac Murrogh. 487.
Kavanagh horn, the, 315.
Keating, Geoffrey, 199, 231, 303.
Keats, the poet, 521, 522.
Keening or crying for the dead, 533.
Keens or death-tunes, 260.
Keeper of the king's icwels, 29.
Kellach,St.,ofKillala, 98.
Kelis in Kilkenny, 482.
■ in Meath (29), 140.
Keltar of the Battles, 39, 54.
Kemble, J. M., an English antiquary,
417.
Kennfaela the Learned, 274, 275.
Kent, 86, 145.
Kermand Kelstach, the Ulster idol,
119.
Kern, a light-armed foot- soldier,
67.
Kerry diamonds, 401.
Keth mac Magach, 42.
Keys and locks, 207.
Key-shield of the Mass, 222.
Kildare (35), 143, 242, 245, 500.
Kilfinnane Moat, 307.
Killaloe (38), in, 339.
Killarney (49), 227, 229, 435.
Killeen Cormac, 133, 134.
Kilmainham, 144.
Kilmallock Abbey, 159, 160.
Kiln for corn-drying, 299.
for lime-burning, 450.
Kilt, 385, 389, 390.
Kilternan cromlech, 544, 545.
Kincora, palace of, at Killaloe (38),
331,339-
Kinel, a race, a tribe, or aggregation
of tribes, supposed to be descended
from a common ancestor, 30.
Kinel Connell, the people of Tir-
connell (now Donegal^ 65.
Kineth O'Hartigan, 321.
Kings, chap. ii. ; 77, 92, 131, 307, 372,
416, 453-
King John's Castle, Limerick, 297.
King with crown, 416.
King's Chair at Tara, 325.
2
Kiss as a salutation, 518.
Kistvaens, 543, 544.
Kitchen, 354.
garden, 6, 365.
or condiment, 357.
Kneading trough, 363.
Kneeling as a salutation, 519.
Knees, bare, 391, 392.
Knife for cutting rushes, 305.
for making pens, 203.
Knives and forks at meals, .316, 347.
Knights and knighthood, 48.
Knockainy, no.
Knockaulin, 332, 3^,3, 508.
Knockfienia near Croom in Limerick,
no.
Knockgraffon in Tipperary, 342, 522.
Knocklong, siege of, 342.
Knockmoy Abbey in Galway, 24,
160.
Knowth on the Boync in Meath, 537.
Kongs Skuggsjo, an old Norse book,
323-
Kuno Meyer, Dr., Pref. ix ; 237.
Labraid, King, 418.
Ladle for metal casting, 438.
Laebhan, St. Patrick's smith, 453.
Laegaire the Victorious, 39, 114.
king of Ireland, 73, 98, 100, 119,
124, 131, 169,327.
Laery Lore, k. of Ireland, 280.
Lake-dwellings, 313.
Lakes, monsters in, 524.
Lamps and lanterns, 372.
Lance: see Spears.
Land and land laws, 81 to 86.
Land as support of church, 142.
- — laws relating to, 81 to 86.
tillage and grazing of, chap.
xix.
measures of, 472, 473.
for tillage, 142, 425.
Lanigan, Dr., 145.
Lann or land, a plate of metal, a
sword-blade, a griddle, 415.
Lapdog, 505.
Lard, 356, 365.
Lathe, 447, 448.
Latin language, 175, 180, i8r, 215.
explaining Gaelic, 199, 200
Laura, an Eastern eremitical monas-
tery, 153.
Lavra the Mariner, k. of Ireland, 334.
Lawn or green of a rath, 310, 311.
Laws : see Brehon Laws.
Laws, books of, 73.
relating to land, 81 to 86.
made to destroy Irish trade, 495.
2
564
Lay community : education amongst,
178 to 180.
Lay or secular schools, 8, 174, 178.
Lead, 435.
for roofs, 293.
Learning and education, 169.
Learning among the laity, 178 to 180.
esteemed and rewarded, 9, 184
to 191.
extent of, in monastic schools,
175. 176-
in pagan times, 168.
not confined to monasteries, 178,
179.
Leather, 59, 471.
— — covers for books, 453.
bags, 471.
bottles, 148.
used on shields, 59, 60, 62.
work as an art, 10, 239, 470.
Leaven or yeast, 362.
Lebar Brecc, 211.
Laigen, 208, 211.
na hUidhre : see Book of the
Dun Cow.
Lecan in Sligo, 212.
Leeks and onions, 366.
Leggings, 391.
Legs bare, 391, 393.
Leighlin Bridge (40), 334.
Leinster province, 13, 16, 108, 124,
226, 284, 500.
ancient extent of, 13, 16.
Lending and borrowing, 519.
Leper-houses and leprosy, 271, 273,
274.
Leprecban or leprechaun, a kind of
fairy, 115, 116.
Leth Conn and Leth Mow, 482 note.
Letters, Irish (alphabet), 173.
Lewy, k. of Ireland, 37.
Lhuyd, the Welsh antiquarian, 35.
Liamhain, 332 : see Dunlavin.
Lia Fail, the inauguration stone at
Tara, 20, 324.
Libraries, 205.
Lichen for dyeing, 467, 468.
Liemania, St. Patrick's sister, 548,
549-
Liffey, the river, 244, 481, 483, 509.
Light in houses, 370, 371, 372.
Lily of Medicine (a book), 270.
Lime, 312, 450.
used on shields, 60.
Limekilns, 450.
Limerick (44), 297.
Limitations of Kings, 25.
Limited Monarchy, 25.
Lindisfarne, 145, 146, 177, 178.
Linen, 382, 388, 465.
Lir, Story of, 237.
Lis-Doonglara, 340.
Lis, liss, lios, or less, an earthen
fort, 107,^289, 300, 306, 309, 310:
see Rath.
Lismullin near Tara, 456.
Lissoleem near Bruree, 340, 341.
Lists of Tales, 234.
Litany of Aengus the Culdee, 177.
Literature, ancient Irish, classified,
214.
Lives of Saints, 219, 220.
Lizards, 524.
Lochru, the druid, 100.
Locks and keys, 297.
Locomotion and commerce, chap.
xxiv.
Loeg, Cuculainn's charioteer, 115,
T *96. .
Loire river, 34.
Lon or Luin, Keltar's spear, 54.
Looking-glasses. 381.
Loom : see Weaving.
Lome, son of Ere, 37.
Lost books of Erin, 208.
Loughbrickland in Down, 39.
Loughcrew hills, cemetery, 244.
Lough Derg on the Shannon (38), 108,
338.
Ennell in Westmeath (28), 329.
Foyle (7), 132.
Key in Roscommon, 229.
Melvin (15, 16), 13.
Neagh (11), 357.
Owel in Westmeath (28), 481.
Swilly, 132.
Louth, county (23), 16, 235.
Louvain, 220.
Lucet Mael, the druid, 100.
Lucky and unlucky days, 98.
Lug or Lugh of the Long Arms, the
Dedannan hero-god, 126, 130, 479.
Lugnaed or Lugnaedon, and his
headstone, 547, 548, 549.
Lugnasad, the 1st August, 500.
Lullabies, 260.
Lunacy, 96, 97.
Luncheon, 343.
Lunula or lunette, 405.
Lure in France, St. Dicuil's well at,
151-
Lycaon, the Trojan, 54.
Mac and O, 288.
Mac Adam, Robert, 383.
Mac Ailello and his bell, 168.
Mac Carthen, St., 28, 217.
Mac Carthy, Cormac, k. of Munster,
158.
Denis Florence, 12.
Mac Carthys, 69, 266.
INDEX.
565
Mac Coghlans of Delvin, 267.
Mac Con, k. of Ireland, 92.
Mac Criffan, Aed, 207, 211.
Mac Dara's Island and church (31,
32), i55-
Mac Dermott, Brian, 229.
Mace or club, 51.
Macecht, St. Patrick's smith, 453.
Mac Firbis, Duald, 201, 230, 232.
family of, 212, 213.
Mac Geoghegan, Connell, 230.
Mac Gorman, bishop and scribe, 207.
Mac Greine, the Dedannan king,
123.
Macha of the golden hair, queen of
Ireland, 109, 330.
Machaon, the Greek physician, 276.
Mac Kelleher, monk and scribe, 207,
209.
Mac Mahons, the, 267.
Mac Morrogh, Dermot, king of
Leinster, 58, 211.
Macnamaras, the, 267.
Mac Ranuall, Richard, 351.
Mad dogs, 505, 506.
Madness, 96, 97.
Mael ; see Mail.
Maengal or Marcellus, 252.
Magh and its compounds : see Moy.
Magh Adhair in Clare, 22.
Magh Slecht or Plain of Prostrations
(22), 118, 119, 164.
Magic Fog, 103.
and magicians, 96, 103 : see
Sorcery.
Maguire, Cathal, the annalist, 120,
229.
Maguires, the, 266.
Maidoc, St., of Ferns, 353.
Maigue, the River, 341.
Maildune : see Voyage of.
Mailmuri mac Ceileachair, 207, 200.
Mailoran's Mill, 426, 457.
Mainchine, an Irish monk in Car-
thage, 150.
Maive, queen of Connaught, Irish
Medb, 100, 235, 310, 332, 365.
Queen (another), 310, 328.
Mallets, 447.
Malt for ale, 350.
Mannanan mac Lir, the Irish sea-
god, 107, 108, 115.
Manchan, St., his shrine, 390.
Mantle or cloak, 384, 385 to 388,391.
of invisibility, 103, 104.
of the peasantry, 388.
Manure, 425.
Manuscripts, House of, 205.
Manx halfpenny, 108.
language and names, 36, 197,
Markets in fairs, 405, 497, 501.
Marriage, 283 to 286.
hollow at Tailltenn, 499.
Marshal, 344.
Martin, the writer on the Hebrides
69.
St., of Tours, 218.
Martyrologies, 220.
Martyrology of Donegal, 220.
Masons aud masonry, 437, 450 to
452.
Mast or wood-mast, 368, 429.
Materia Medica, 277.
Mayday, 120, 123, 479.
Maynooth College, 213.
Mead or Metheglin, 348, 350.
Meal and flour, 362.
Meals, in general, 343.
Measures, standards of, 311, 472.
Meath, province, 14, 15, 16.
Medical mss., 268.
Medical attendance in battle, 65.
Medical herbs, 265, 277, 280.
Medicine and medical doctors, 109,
143 ; chap. xiv.
Meetings, 496 to 504.
Menelaus the Greek, 276.
Men of learning, 184.
Mensal land, 15, 19, 22, 82.
Mercenary soldiers, 46, 47.
Merionethshire, 35.
Messan, a lapdog, 505.
Metals treated of, 484, 485.
Metal-casting, 438, 439.
work and workers, 246 to 249,
439-
Metempsychosis, 102, 126.
Mether, a drinking-vessel, 317, 318.
Meyer, Dr. Kuno, Pref. ix ; 237.
Midach, Diancecht's son, 265.
Milan Glosses, 200, 320.
Milesian colony, 31, 105, 109, no, 112,
117, 235.
Military asylums, 47.
Military formation and marching,
66.
Military ranks, orders, and services,
38.
Militia, several kinds of, 38.
Milk and its products, 142, 359.
Milking, 432.
tunes for, 260.
Mill, 142, 325 ; chap. xxi.
Mines and minerals, 9, 433, 434, 435.
Minn, a diadem, 410, 415, 416.
Mirrors, 381.
Missionaries, Irish, 144 to 152.
Mistletoe, 90, 102.
Moat or mote, a raised fort, 306.
of Castletown, near Dundalk,
40.
566
INDEX.
Moat of Kilfinnane, 307.
Mobi or Movi, of Glasncvin,
175,
Molaise, St., 175.
Monasteranenagh, 160, 409.
Monasterboice (23, 24), 228.
Monasteries, 8, 136, 137, 139 and
following pages'; 290, 432.
hospitality in, 5, 142.
paid maintenance in, 520.
Monastic life, 139 and following
pages.
liss or rampart, 163.
schools, 8, 174 to 184.
Money, 476, 477, 47§-
Mongan of Rathmore, 126, 127.
Montalcmbert, 146, 147.
Montgomeryshire, 35.
Monsters in lakes, 524.
Moon, 193, 195.
age of, 196.
Moore, Thomas, 34, 144.
his melodies, 262, 263.
Morann, the great judge, 128.
Mordants in dyeing, 466.
Morrigan,the war-fury, 112, 113.
Mor-tuath, great tuath, several-
tuaths united, 17, 18, 30.
Moses, 479.
Mould for making furnace, 444.
Moulds for casting, 439.
Mountebanks, 501.
Mountsandall, 39.
Mowing, 427.
Moylena, Battle of, 113.
Moy Mell, the pagan heaven, 124.
Moyola, river in Derry, 245.
Moyratli, Battle of, 113, 114, 212, 235,
274.
Moyry Pass near Dundalk, 481.
Moy Slecht : see Magh Slecht.
Muirchu's Life of St. Patrick, 169,
526.
Mullaghshee at Ballyshannon (9),
109, no.
Mullenoran, 457.
Munster, 13, 16, 37, 109, no, 466.
ancient extent and sub-divisions
of, 13, 14, 15, 16.
Murkertagh O'Brien, k. of Ireland,
33L338.
Music, chapter xni., 195, 348, 500,
501.
Irish teachers of, 252.
Musical branch, 258, 504.
instruments, 254 to 259, 501.
Mussel-producing pearls, 402.
Mustache, 380.
Mutton, 354.
Muzzles for dogs, 505.
Mythology, Irish pagan, 104 to 118.
Naas (35), 332.
described, 334.
Nails of fingers, 376.
Napkins at table, 317.
National colour, absence 0^384.
National Museum, Dublin, list of,
gold objects in, 420.
Nature and natural beaut}7, love of,
among Irish, 521 to 524.
Navan fort or ring, 330 : sec Emain.
Nechtan, k. of Leinster, 337.
Necklaces, 402.
Necklets, 402 to 410.
Needle and thread, 469.
Needlework, 469, 470 : see Sewing.
Neit, the Irish war-god, 113.
Nemed, a sanctuary, 158.
Nemedian colony, 31.
Nemnach, well at Tara, 325.
Nemon, Neit's wife, 113.
Nenagh (38, 39), 499.
Nennius, bis History and the Irish
version of it, 212.
Nether garments, 391.
Nets for birds and fish, 511, 512.
Nettles as food, 366.
New Grange on the Boyne, 108, 244,
538.
Newry (18), river, 424.
Newtown Abbey in Meath, 160.
Niall Glunduff, k. of Ireland, 288.
Niall of the Nine Hostages, 34.
Nigra, Chevalier, a great Italian
scholar in Celtic, 215.
Nine waves, 271.
Nith, stream near Tara, 325, 456.
Nivelle in Belgium, 252.
Noah's ark, 223.
Nobber in Meath, 254.
Nobles, 18, 77 : see Chiefs.
Non-free classes, 79, 80.
Non-noble freemen, 78, 79.
Norse, Norsemen, the, 36 : see Scandi-
navians and Danes.
Northumbria, 145, 146.
Nuada Necht, king, 31.
Nuns and convents in Ireland, 153,
154-
Nurse tunes, 260.
Nuts, 100, 102, 3C7.
Nutt, Alfred, 523.
O and Mac, 288.
Oak tree, 99, 100, 102.
bark far tanning, 471.
mast, 368, 429.
Oaths, 104, 121, 123, 124.
Oatmeal, 362.
Oats, 426.
INDEX.
i67
O'Brien, Murkertagb, k. of Ireland,
.131, 338.
O'Briens, the, 16, 69, in, 267, 339:
see Dalcassians.
Obsequies, funeral, 532.
O'Cahan, the inaugurator, 22.
— — Rory Dall, 253.
O'Callanans, 266.
O'Carolan, Turlogh, the musician,
254, 262.
O'Cassidys, 266.
Occupation-tunes, 260, 261.
O'Clery, Conary and Cucogry, 230.
Michael, 201, 220.
his Calendar, 220.
his Glossary, 201.
O'Connallon, Thomas, the harper,
253.
O'Conor, Felim : see Felim.
Roderick, king of Ireland, 17,
3i-
Turlogh, king of Ireland, 249.
O'Conors, the, 22.
O'Corra's sons, story of, 317.
O'Curry, Prof. Eugene, Pref. vi ; 53,
75, 127, i6r, 208, 305.
O'Davoren's Glossary, 201.
O'Donnells, the, 22, 65, 218.
O'Donovan, John, ll.d., 75, 161, 2or,
220, 230, 321, 332.
O'Duffy, Muredach, archbishop of
Tuara, 249.
Oenach : see Fairs.
Offa's Dyke, 424.
O'Flahertys, the, 266.
O'Freel, the inaugurator, 22.
Ogham, 98, 169 to 173, 203.
O'Gonnilloe near Killaloe, 245.
O'Hagan, the inaugurator, 22.
O'Hartigan, Dunlang, 104.
Kineth, the poet, 321, 344.
O'Hechan, Mailisa Mac Braddan,
the artist of the Cross of Cong-,
249.
O'Hickeys, the, 267.
O'Kennedys, the, 267.
O'Lavan, the artist, 315.
Old age, provision for, 520.
O'Lees, the, 266.
Olioll: see Ailill.
Ollave, Ir. ollamh, a person holding
the highest degree of any profession
or art, a doctor, 29, 180 and follow-
ing, 18.5, 436, 498.
Ollamh Fodla, king, 497.
O'Lochan, Cuan, 321.
O'Loghlin, Donall, king of Ireland,
166.
Olympic Games of Greece, 499, 502,
5°3-
O'Mulconry, Ferfesa, 230.
One foot, one hand, one eye (sore ery),
102, 103.
O'Neill, Shane, 27, 47, 371, 395.
O'Neills, the, 22, 69, 288.
Onions and leeks, 366.
Open-air treatment in hospitals, 273,
274.
Ophthalmia, 272.
Opus Hibernicum, 147, 244, 249, 316,
399-
Ordeals, 128, 129, 169.
Orders, the Three, of Irish saints, 135
and following pages : see Three
orders.
Ore, 433, 434, 435.
Orkney Islands, 512.
Ornamentation of mss., 239 to 244.
Ornaments, personal, 399 to 419.
Orpheus, 260.
O'Shiels, the, 267.
Oscar, son of Ossian, 43.
Ossar, thelapdog, 99.
Ossian, Irish Oisln, son of Finn, 43,
126.
Ossianic Tales, 199, 523.
Ossory (39, 45, 46I, 18, 482, 500.
Oswald, king of Northumbria, 145,
146, 177. _ _
O'Tinnri, Maelodar, the physician,
266.
Otter and otter skins, 382, 383, 508,
5"-
Over-kings of Ireland, 31.
Owen : see Eoghan.
Outdoor relief, 521.
Oxen, 427, 428,486.
Oxford, 176.
Pagan artistic metal-work, 246, 399.
> ornamentation, 244.
Paganism, chap. v.
Painters, 445.
Painting the cheeks, 377.
Palaces, 24, 320 to 342.
Palladius, 133, 135.
Pallas, the goddess, 107.
Pallas Grean, in.
Palsy, 272.
Pancakes, 361.
Pantry, 300.
Paps, the, mountains near Killarney,
100.
Parchment, 202, 205.
Parmenius or Formenius the hermit,
36.
Parnell, Thomas, 342.
Parsnips, 366.
Parthalon, 127.
Parthalonian colony, 31, 271.
568
INDEX.
Pasturage, 421.
Patrick, St., 28, 34, 73, 98, 100, 118,
119, 120, 122, 128, 133, 135, 136, 154,
155, 164, 165, ib9, 171, 174, 205, 217,
220, 318, 328, 453, 454, 470, 526. _
Druidical prophecy of bis coming,
98.
Patrickstowu fairy-moat, 107.
Pearls, 10, 401, 402.
Peat or turf, 369.
Pen and penknife, 203.
Penwork as an art, 239.
Penal Laws, 72, 495.
Pentarchy, the Irish, 17.
Pepin, Mayor of the Palace, 194.
Person and toilet, 376 to 382.
Personal ornaments, 399 to 419.
Pet animals, 525.
Petrie, Dr. George, Pref. xii ; 161, 162,
321,324..
his Irish Music, 262.
Phantom Island, 125.
Phantoms, 104 and following pages ;
117.
Phoenicians, 121,494.
Phoenix Park, near Dublin, 513.
Physicians, 264 to 268, chap. xiv. in
general.
— — Goddess of, 109.
in the army, 66.
Picts, 33, 37, 226, 227.
and Scots, 31.
Pigs, 25,429,430,51c
Pigsty, 299.
Pillar-stones, 120, 423.
Pincers or tongs of smith, 441.
Pinginn, a penny, a coin and weight,
474 to 478.
Pinkerton, the Scotch historian, 219.
Pins, 391, 392.
Pipes, musical, 256, 257, 501.
Pitfalls for animals, 511.
Place, time, person, and cause of
writing a book, Preface, x.
Plagues, 270.
Plane, a carpenter's, 447.
Pleaders and advocates, 91.
Pledging articles, 519.
Plough and ploughing, 427.
Plough-whistles, 261.
Pocket, 394.
Poems, educational, 184.
Poetry, ancient Irish, 214 to 216.
Poets, 109, 186 and following, 304 :
see Ollave.
circuits or visitations of, 187.
saved at Drumketta, 189.
— -writing-staves of, 202, 203, 204.
Poison, 280.
Poitou in France, 348.
Polyolbion, Drayton's, 253.
Pooka, Ir. puca, the fairy, 116.
Poor laws in ancient Ireland, 520,
521.
scholars, 181.
Popular cures and herb -knowledge,
280.
Porcelain ornaments, 294.
Pork, 354-
Porridge, 362, 363.
Posts supporting roof, 293.
Pottage or hash, 355.
Potters and potter's wheel, 320.
Pounds for cattle, 87, 525.
Prayer, 95, 144, 152.
Precious stones, 401.
Press for shaping timber, 447.
Privileges of kings, 23.
Prizes for performances at fairs, 501.
Probe, a doctor's, 277.
Procedure by distress, 87.
by fasting, 88.
Professions, 9.
hereditary, 184, chap. viii. in
general.
Property, test of rank, 77.
Prosody, Irish, 214 to 216.
Prosper of Aquitaine, 133.
Protection of crafts, 452 to 455.
Provinces, the aucient, 13, 14, 15.
Psalms, 218.
Psalter of Cashel, 230.
Ptolemy, the geographer, 494.
Puddings, 356.
Punishment, modes of, 89.
Purple in dyeing, 467, 468.
Purse, 394.
Pursuit of Dermot and Grainne, 327.
Pythoness, 101.
Quaigh, a drinking-cup, 317.
Queens, 17, 92.
Quern, 142, 459.
Quicken, quickbeam, or rowantree,
100, 102, 355.
Quin in Clare, 160, 420.
Races, 500, 509.
Racks for hanging small articles on,
302.
Radnorshire, 35.
Rahan (34), church doorway, 454.
Rake (the instrument), 428.
Rampart boundaries, 424.
Rath, a circular earthwork for a
dwelling, 112, 306, 309, 310: see
Lis.
in Westmeath, 329.
Rathbeagh on the Nore, 329.
INDEX.
569
Rath Caelclion at Tara, 326.
Rathcoran near Baltinglass, 335.
Rathcroghan in Roscommon : see
Croghan.
Rath Graiune at Tara, 327.
Ratli-Keltair at Downpatrick, 39, 41.
Rath-Laegaire at Tara, 327.
Rathmaive near Tara, 310, 328.
Rathmiles near Tara, 328.
Rathnagree near Baltinglass, 336.
Rath-na-seanaid at Tara, 325.
Rath-righ or Rath-na-Righ at Tara,
3io, 323.
Ravens, 98, 99.
Razors, 380, 381. t,
Reaping and reaping-hooks, 426.
Re-birth, 126, 127.
Rechtaire, a house-steward, 28.
Recitation of stories and poetry, 179,
238, 500.
Red Branch Knights, 38, 39, 42, 45,
47, 48, 54, 235, 265, 329, 330, 345,
346, 5IO«
Reeds for roofs, 293.
Reeves, Rt. Rev. William, 220.
Reins : see Bridles.
Relics, use of, in battle, 65.
Relieving officer, 521.
Relig-na-Rig at Croghan, 332.
Rennet, 361.
Rent, 82, 84, 85.
Reptiles and serpents, 117, 524, 525.
Restrictions of kings, 25.
Retaliation and law of, 86.
Reuda, same as Carbery Riada, 37,
227.
Revenue of kings, 22, 25.
Rhapsodists of the Greeks, 500.
Rheumatism cured, 277.
Rhyme and rhyming, 215, 216.
Rhyming rats to death, 188.
Ring-money, 478.
Rings and bracelets, 400, 401, 501.
Roads, 4, 328, 480 to 483.
Roberts, an English writer, 298, 347,
358.
Rock of Cashel, the, 337, 338.
Roe of a salmon, 362.
Roman and Greek writers on Ire-
land, 32, 494.
Romanesque style of architecture,
158,159.
Roman wall, 424.
Rome and the Romans, 23, 33, 54,
64, 97, 135, 145, 146, 177, 347, 34«,
377, 5<>4-
Roofs of houses, 293.
Roscommon abbey, 229.
Ro-sualt, a fabulous monstrous fish,
525-
Round towers, 160, 451,
Rowan tree, 355.
Royal residences, 24, 320 to 342.
Roydamna, a crown prince, 19, 500.
Ruadan of Lorrha, St., 321.
Runners or couriers, 29.
Rushes for beds, $0$.
for floors, 305.
for roofs, 293.
Rushlights, 372.
Ruskin quoted, 383.
Rye, 426.
Sacred armistice of the Greeks, 503.
Sacred Island, i.e. Ireland, 494.
Saddles, 487, 488.
Saffron-dye, 388, 468.
Sai-re-Cerd, 'a sage in handicraft,'
e 455-
Saint : see under the respective
names.
David's Monastery in Wales,
144.
Doulogh's Church nearDublin,
156.
Gall in Switzerland, 194, 200,
252.
John's Day (24th June), 123.
Nicholas' College, Galway,
Saints' love of animals, 526.
Saints, three orders of: see Three
Orders.
Salmon, 357, 362, 512.
in wells, 164.
Salt, 351, 358.
Saltair-na-Rann, 192, 196, 221.
Saltair, or Psalter of Cashel, 209.
of Tara, 498.
Salutation, modes of, 518.
Salzburg, 194.
Samain (1st of November), 112. 118,
_ 479, 497, 498.
Samera, the chief, 114.
Sanctuary, 158.
Sapphires, 401.
Sarcophagi, 537 to 546.
Satchels, for books, 206.
Satin, 382, 385.
Satire and satirists, 188.
Sausages, 356.
Saw (a carpenter's), 445.
Saxons, 33, 290.
Scabbard, 55, 56.
Scallcrow, or royston crow, 113.
Scandinavians, 287 : see Danes and
Norsemen.
Scathach, the female champion, 277.
Scattery Island (43), 128.
School life and school methods,* 181.
570
INDEX.
Schools, lay, 8, 174, 178.
monastic or ecclesiastical, 8, 137,
174 to 184.
pagan, 174, 179, 180.
Science, knowledge of, 191.
Scissors, 462.
Scotch and Irish music, 263.
Scotch Gaelic, 197, 198.
Scotch harpers learning from Ireland,
252.
Scotchmen, 27, 47, 55, 120, 252, 355.
Scotch pipes, 256.
Scotland, 20, 32, 33, 36, 37, 38, 60, 95,
112, 122, 144, 163, 165, 198, 227, 253,
261, 263, 292, 302, 307, 310, 345, 383,
461, 492, 499 : see Hebrides.
Scots {i.e. the Irish), 32, 33, 37, 133,
135, 146, 178, 227, 290.
Scott's novels referred to, 302, 345.
Screpall, a coin, a weight, 474, 476.
Scribes, Irish, 202, 204, 239 to 244.
Scripture, 143, 150, 218.
Sculpture, 249.
Scythe, 427.
Sea, the, 528.
Seals as food, 355.
skins of, 382.
Seasons, the four, 478, 479.
Sechnall, St., 222.
Secular clergy, 136, 137.
Sed, a jewel, 10, 29, 4or, 402.
a cow as an article of value,
402, 478.
Seds or jewels, keeper of, 29.
Sedulius, 176.
Seirkieran in King's County, 144.
Senait Mac Manus in Lough Erne,
229.
Senan, St., of Scattery, 128.
Senchan Torpest, the poet, 188.
Senchus Mor, 73, 74.
Seneschal, 28.
Sentinels and watchmen, 63.
Separation of man and wife, 285.
Sept, a group of people connected
by blood, 80.
Sepulchral chambers, 537 to 546.
monuments, 540.
Sepulchres : see Cemeteries.
Greek, 538.
Serpents and reptiles, 117, 524, 525.
Seven Churches, 158.
degrees of wisdom, 180.
Romans buried in Aran, 177.
Sewing, 383, 469, 471 : see Needle-
work.
Shakespeare's plays, 130, 188.
Shanachie, a historian, a storyteller,
6, 64, 186, 232, 238, 344.
Shanid Castle in Limerick (43), 69.
Sharpening tools, 449.
Shaving, 380, 381.
Shears and shearing, 462.
Sheath for a sword, 55, 56.
Shee, a fairy, a fairy-palace, 103,
105, 106, 109, 124.
Sheep, 430.
Sheephouse, 299.
Shees open at Samain, 112.
Sheets for beds, 303.
Sheevra, a kind of fairy, 115.
Shellfish used in dyeing, 468.
Shells as a land-improver, 425.
for lime, 450.
Shepherd, 430.
Shetland Islands, 150.
Shiel, Dr., of Eallyshannon, 267.
Shield, 59, 344, 345, 446.
Shield-bearer or squire, 344.
Shingles for roofs, 293.
Ships and boats, 491 to 493.
Shirt, 394-
Shoeing horses, 40,0.
Shoemaker, the fairies', 116.
Shoes and sandals, 347, 396 to 399.
Shoes, magical, 116.
of metal, 397, 398.
taken off at meals, 347.
Shovel, 427, 42S.
Showmen, 501.
Shrine of St. Maidoc, 378.
of St. Manchan, 390.
of St. Patrick's bell, 165, 166,
167.
Shrines for relics and books, 147,
217, 438.
Shroud and winding-sheet, 533.
Sickles, 426.
Sick maintenance, 274.
Sid-Aeda at Ballyshannon, 109.
Sid Ruidb or Sidh Bhuidhbh, Bodb
Derg's palace, 108.
Side or Sid, a fairy, a fairy dwelling,
an elf-mound : see Shee.
Sieves, 363.
Silence at meetings, how obtained,
504-
Silk, 382, 385.
Silver, 244, 245.
dishes at dinner, 365.
and gold as mediums of ex-
change, 476, 477, 478.
Skellig Island off Kerry, 153.
Skreen Hill in Meath, 45-
Slainge, first king of Ireland, 31.
SI an, wells so called, 122.
Slane on the Boyne (29), 137, 357.
481.
Slaves and slavery, 80.
Sledges and hammers, 441, 447#
Sleeping accommodation, 300.
Sleeping-draught, 277.
INDEX.
Sleight-of-hand tricks, 517.
Slieve Anierin, a mountain in Leitrim,
435-
Fuait or Fuaid near Newtown-
Hamilton in Armagh (17), 481.
Golry in Longford, 368.
Mish in Kerry (49), 117.
Slievenamon in Tipperary, 111.
Sligo (15), 160.
Sling and sling-stones, 49.
Sloe- bush or blackthorn and its fruit,
368.
Smallpox, 271. §
Smelting, 245, 434, 435.
Smiths and smitkwork, 101, 109, 437,
440 to 444.
goddess of, 109.
Smith's song, 260.
Snakes, 524.
Sneezing, divination from, 98.
Soap, 381.
Soldiers tied in pairs, 67.
Solinus, 55, 491.
Solstices, 193.
Sons of Usna, 39.
Sorcerers and sorcery, 102.
Soul, immortality of, 102, 125.
Sound as a distance measure, 473.
Spades, 427, 428.
for turf, 369.
Spancel, 432.
Spears and spearheads, 51, 438, 511.
Speckled Book, 211.
Spells and charms, 102, 103, 104.
Spenser, Edmund, 188, 517.
Spindles, 463.
Spinning, 463.
Spits for roasting, 351.
Sprouts (vegetables), 355.
Spunk, tinder, 370.
Spurs, none used, 490.
Staigue Fort in Kerry, 308.
Standards or banners, 64.
Standing up as mark of respect,
518.
Stars, observation of, 98, 196.
Steel, 449: steelyard, 475.
Stilicho, the Roman general, 34.
Stirabout or porridge, 362, 363.
Stirrups, none used, 490.
Stitching wounds, 276.
Stock, lending of, to tenants, 22, 84.
Stokes, Miss Margaret, Frontispiece,
Preface, xii.
her pilgrimages in search of
traces of Irish saints, 150.
Whitley, d.c.l., ll.d., 201, 219,
221, 222, 229, 232, 237, 334.
Stone, building in, 436, 450 to 452.
circles, 543.
of the Divisions, 14.
Stone vessels, 314.
for weapons and tools, 434.
Stone-carving, 249.
Stones, adoration of, 118, 119, 120,
424.
Stories : see Tales.
Story-telling, 238.
Stowe missal, 242.
Strainer, 349.
Stratagem in war, 66.
Strategy, tactics, and modes of
fighting, 62.
Straw for beds, 303.
for floors, 305.
for thatching, 293.
Strawberries, 368.
Strongbow, i. e. Richard, earl of
Clare, his tomb, 549.
Stroove and Stroove Bran in Donegal,
97-
Structure of society, 77.
Stuarts, the, 38.
Styles for writing on waxed tablets,
205.
of Irish music, the three, 260.
Subordination of military ranks, 6^.
Subsidies, 83.
Subterranean chambers in forts, 307,
308.
Sullivan, Dr. W. K., Pref. vii.
Sun, the, 122.
worship, 122, 123.
Sundays and holidays, 141, 343.
Sundial, 193.
Surnames, 21.
Swearing by arms, 121.
by elements, 123, 124.
by the gods, 104.
Sweating-houses (medicine), 277, 278,
279.
Swimming, 5, 184.
Swine : see Pigs.
Swineherds, 430.
Switzerland, 149, 163, 314.
Swords (arms), 55, 56.
Symmachus, the Roman, 504.
Synchronisms of Flann, 228.
Tablucloth, 347.
Tables (in houses), 346.
Tablet-staves for writing on, 202 to
205.
Tacitus, 494.
Tailltenn (29), 15, 329, 344, 497, 498,
499.
Tain-bo-Quelna, 210, 211, 212, 265,
346. .
described, 235.
Tairill, St. Patrick's brasier, 453.
572
Tales, historical and romantic, chap.
xi.
educational function of, 179, 181.
general character of, 237.
Taliesin, the ancient Welsh bard,
127.
Tallagbt (35, 36), near Dublin, 271.
Tanist, the elected successor to a
living king or chief, 19.
Tanistry, 86.
Tanning, 471.
Tara (29), 15, 17, 20, 90, 92, 96, 100,
131, 169, 211, 246, 289, 292, 298, 310,
312,318,329,344,456, 497.
described, 321 to 328.
■ brooch, 246, 247, 248, 249, 414.
Feis of, 497, 498.
Luachra, 341.
Tartan, 383.
Tasacb, St. Patrick's brasier, 453.
Teaching in handwork, 184.
and teachers, 100, 101, chap. vii.
Tech Cormac at Tara, 324.
Midchuarta at Tara : see Ban-
queting-Hall.
Teltown : see Tailltenn.
Temair : see Tara.
Tempull Caimhain in Aran, 157.
Temples, 95.
Tenants, 82, 83, 84, 85.
Tenure of land, 81 to 86.
Terminus, the Roman god, 120.
Termon, a sanctuary, 158.
Territorial boundaries, 422, 423, 424.
subdivision of Ireland, 13.
Testament, tbe, 143, 150, 218: see
Scripture and Bible.
Testaments : see Wills.
Thatch of roofs, 293.
Theodosius, the Roman general, 33,
34-
Tbomond or North Munster (43, 44,
45), 16, 18.
Thread : see Sewing and Spinning.
Three Orders of Saints, 135 ; First
Order, 135 to 138; Second, 135, 138
and following pages; Third, 136,
152, 153. .
waves of Erin, 62.
Threlkeld, the writer on Irish botany,
280.
Threshing, 427.
Throne, a king's, 24.
Tide, time of flow of, 196.
at Clontarf on day of battle,
226.
Tigernach O'Breen, the annalist,
229.
Tigernmas, king of Ireland, 118, 244.
Timber as working material, 433.
Time and its measures, 478, 479, 480.
Tiinpan, a musical instrument, 255,
256, 501.
Tin, 435, 437-
linder, 360.
Tirconnell, now the Co. Donegal (6,
9, 10), 18, 22.
Tirechan's notes on St. Patrick, 218.
Tirnauoge, the land of youth, 12, 124,
126.
Tlachtga (29), 15, 329, 497, 499.
Toads in Ireland, 524.
Tober Finn at Tara, 327.
Tobernagalt in Glennagalt, 97.
Todd, the Rev. Dr., 220, 222, 226.
Toilet and person, 377 to 382.
Toilet articles (small), 381, 382.
Tolka, the river, near Dublin, 182.
Tombstones: see Sepulchral monu-
ments.
Tomregan in Cavan, 274.
Tongs or pincers, 441.
Tonn Cleena, Cleena's wave, at
Glandore, in, 529.
Rudraidhe, 529.
Tuaithe, 529.
Tonsure, 148.
Tools, various, 445 and following.
Topazes, 401.
Tornant moat near Dunlavin, 336.
Torques, 403, 404.
Towns and cities, 6, 290.
Trades and tradesmen, 10, 79, 452 to
455.
Trades connected with clothing,
chap. xxii.
Transformation and transmigration
after death, 102, 126.
Translations into Irish, 214.
Traps for animals, 511, 512.
Treatment of diseases, 273 to 280.
Trees, 433.
reverenced by the di uids, 99.
Trefining or trepanning (surgery),
274,275-
Tribe, the, 81, 82.
Tribe-land, 82.
Tribute to kings and chiefs, 22, 84 :
see Boru.
Trim Castle (29), 291.
Trinity College, Dublin, 213.
well at Carbury in Kildare (29,
35), 337-
Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, 2iq.
Triscatal, Concobar's champion, 27.
Trough, 315, 441.
Trousers, 391, 488.
Trout in wells, 164.
Troy, war of, 212.
Truce at fairs, 502, 503.
Trumpets and horns, 68, 257, 258,
259, 344-
INDEX.
573
Tuam (27), 249.
Tuan mac Cairill, the sage, 127.
Tuath, a territory, 15, 17, 30, 77, 273.
size of, 16.
Tuatha de Danann : see Dedannans.
Tuathal, the Legitimate, king of
Ireland, 14, 329.
Tubbrid church in Tipperary, 231.
Tubs, 315, 316.
Tucking cloth, 462, 464.
Tullahogue in Tyrone, 22.
Tulsk in Roscommon, 332.
Tumblers (showmen), 501, 517.
Tumulus, or burial-mound, on the
Boyne, 541.
Tuning-key of a harp, 256.
Turbary, 432.
Turf or peat, 369, 432.
spades, 369.
Turgesius, the viking, 329.
Turners, 447.
Turning right-hand-wise and left-
hand-wise: see Desiol.
Twelve Apostles of Erin, 139.
Tying soldiers in pairs, 67.
Tyrian purple, 468/
Tyrone (10, 11), 18, 245.
Uchadan, the artificer, 245.
Ulster, 13, 16, 37, 38, 60j 64, 132, 189,
235, 358, 45o, 465-
ancient extent of, 14, 16.
Ultan, bishop of Ardbraccan, 218.
and the orphans, 530.
brother of Eursa, 252.
Ultonian Knights: see Red Branch.
Ulysses, 103, 381.
Underclothing, 393.
Underground chambers in forts, 307.
Universe, description of, in Irish,
192.
Unlucky days, 98.
Urns for ashes of the dead, 535,541,
_ 543,545,546.
Ushnagh (28), 14, 15, 120, 329, 344,
497, 498, 499-
Usna, Sons of, 39, 236, 376.
Value, standards of, 475.
Van Helmont of Brussels, 266.
Vapour bath, 277.
Various social customs, chap. xxvi.
Veal, 354.
Vegetables for table, 355, 365, 366,
367-
Veils, 395, 396.
Vellum, 202, 205.
Venison, 354. „
Venus, the goddess, 103.
Vessels, 314 to 320.
Virgil or Virgilius of Aghaboe, bishop
of Salzburg, 194.
Visitation of chiefs and officials, 23,
373-
of poets, 187.
Vitrified forts, 310.
Voices of birds, divination from, 98.
Voyage of St. Brendan, 492.
of Maildune, 210, 212, 237, 304,
, 348.
Vulcan, 440.
Waggons, 4.
Waistcoat, absence of, 385.
Wakes or dead watches, 532, 533.
Wales, 144, 283, 302, 303, 307, 468,
487.
Irish conquests and colonisa-
tions in, 32, 5^, 34, 35.
War-cries, 69.
Ward, Hill of, in Meath, 15.
War and warfare, 7, 8, and chap. iii.
War-goddesses or war-furies, 112.
War-marches (music), 261.
War-service, 45.
Ware, Sir James, Pref. vii.
Washing hands and face, 381.
the body after death, 533.
Watchdogs, 505.
Watchmen and sentinels, 63.
Water, communication by, 491 to
493-
digging for, 425.
mills, chap. xxi.
worshipped, 122.
Water-bottles, 471.
Watercress, 366.
Wave of Erin, of Man, of the North,
and of Britain, 529.
Waves, nine, 271, 528.
The Three, of Erin, 62, 529.
Wax candles, 371.
Waxed tablets for writing on, 205.
Weapons, swearing by, 121.
use of, taught, 184.
worshipped, 121.
Weaving, 463, 464.
Weeping aloud for the dead, 533.
Weight and standards of, 474, 475.
Weirs, 513.
Wells, 122, 151, 163.
AVelsh, the, 47, 252, 287, 346, 468,
492.
language and literature, 35, 197,
200.
■ music, 252.
574
INDEX.
Westjvood, Prof. J. O., 240.
"Wexford (46), 245.
Wheat, 426.
Whetstone, 449.
Whey, 360, 361.
Wliip, 400.
Whiskey, 350.
Whortleberries or hurts, 368.
Wickerwork houses, 291, 292, 293.
shields, 59.
AVicklow (40, 41), 9, 133, 435.
Wife, 91, 283 to 286.
Wild boars, 511.
William of Malmesbury, 145, 195.
Will of Cahirmore. 510.
Wills or testaments, 531.
Wind : colours and qualities of
winds, 527, 528.
Windgap in Kilkenny, 482.
Windows, 294, 295.
AVine, 348, 495.
Wisdom, seven degrees of, 180.
AYitches and witchcraft, 100.
Witnesses, 91, 286.
AVizards, 101.
AVoad plant for dyeing, 467.
AVolf, 506.
AVolf-dog, 504, 505, 506, 511.
Women, 212.
position of, 283, 284 : see AVife.
AVood as working material, 433.
building in , 200 to 293 ; 436, 444.
AVood -carvers, 445.
AVoods and forests, 1, 433.
AVool and woollens, 382, 462 to 470.
AVoidsworth, the poet, 522.
AVork in monasteries, 139 and follow-
ing pages.
AVorkers in wood, metal, and stone,
chap. xx.
AVorkshops, ancient, 449, 450.
Worship of the elements, 121.
of idols, 118.
of weapons, 121.
AVounds closed up by stitching, 276.
AVren, the, 98.
Writing and writing-materials, 202.
AVriting known to pagan Irish, 169
to 173.
AVurzburg Glosses, 200.
ArKAR and its subdivisions, 478, 479.
Yeast or leaven, 362.
A^ellow Book of Lecan, 208, 212.
Yellow colour, 383, 488.
hair, 376.
plague, 153, 178, 271, 530.
Yew rod for divination, 98.
Yew tree and wood, 100, 102, 363,
,444, 445-
Arork, 176.
Zeuss, 200, 215.
Zinc, 435, 437.
Zurich, lake, 36.
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